One Black Rose
by PeachGoddess1
Summary: FINISHED Piper wants to become a member of the underground society called Circle Daybreak. The only problem is that she has to relive her past in order to do so.
1. One Black Rose: Chapter 1

February 17, 2002  
  
1 Chapter 1  
  
Piper Camden stared at her own reflection in the dirty window of the Las Vegas Yellow Cab she had hailed thirty-five minutes earlier. She didn't like the face that stared back at her. It was solemn and waxen. Piper rarely smiled these days. Her thick golden hair fell in layers to the middle of her back, and her eyes were absolutely lifeless. They used to be a sparkling emerald green that always seemed to be hiding a secret. Now they were dull and pensive. It's impossible to have seen the things Piper has and still have a twinkle in your eye.  
  
This is my chance to change that, Piper thought to herself. Maybe they can help me.  
  
The cab had left downtown Vegas twenty-five minutes ago and was now approaching the suburban areas of the infamous city. The neon signs and cheap motels were fading into the distance and being replaced with inns, cafés, and apartment buildings. It was early fall, and the sidewalks were scattered with orange and brown leaves. The streets were bustling with people on a Tuesday afternoon. There was a middle-aged lady trying to keep her young boy out of trouble by pulling forcibly on his coat sleeve. An elderly man stood outside of a café called Gina's, smoking a cigar. Everywhere Piper looked there were innocent, ignorant people carrying out their petty existences. For the hundredth time that day, she asked herself Are they even worth saving?  
  
Then the cab was driving to the outskirts of the town, where trees became more frequent and houses came into view. The cabdriver pulled onto a side road that led down to a huge set of silver gates.  
  
"This is as far as I can take ya', Miss. Nobody gets past these gates without a specific invitation. That'll be $100." The cabbie tipped up his plaid-print cap and stared at Piper through the Plexiglas window.  
  
Piper had been staring at the high-security gates while the bristle-faced cabbie was speaking. "Um, could you just hang on one second? I may need you for a ride home."  
  
"Another forty minute drive?! That'll cost ya', Girlie." The cabdriver's gray eyebrows narrowed at Piper as she got out of the car. "What's the matter? Afraid that the millionaire won't let you past his iron gates?" This sent the old man into chuckles of laughter, which were followed by a coughing fit.  
  
Piper just slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and stepped out of the cab without a word. Because that's exactly what she was afraid of. What if they didn't even let her inside? What if he wasn't home? What if he accused her of treason and had her taken before the council to be executed? There were just too many things that could go wrong, but Piper couldn't stand there and worry about them all. She resigned herself to whatever fate that came upon her. Nothing really affected her deeply anymore. It was as if her emotions had been bottled up and locked away deep inside of her. She was prepared to accept whatever they did to her, which, surprisingly, was very little.  
  
A young man that looked to be around nineteen or twenty stepped out of a security guard hut that was adjacent to the security gates. He had blonde hair that he had highlighted electric blue, and an earring in each ear. One of these earrings was of a black foxglove.  
  
"What business do you have here, Gorgeous?" The 'wolf boy asked Piper with an appreciative glance. He stood about ten feet away from her with his arms crossed over his chest. He had on black jeans and a black sweater that emphasized his broad shoulders.  
  
"I need to speak to Mr. Descourdes. I have…a request to ask of him." Piper decided to choose her words carefully in case this werewolf was as stupid and belligerent as the rest of his kin.  
  
"Is that so? What's your name, Sweetheart?" The boy gave her a suspicious look from under heavy-lidded eyes. Piper guessed that he was trying to place what race she was.  
  
"Piper Camden, and don't ever call me sweetheart." She gave him a tight- lipped smile.  
  
"Well, well, well. You smell like a vampire, Piper, but I'd venture to guess that you're not one of the lamia. I know -- I'm impressive. It wasn't the last name that tipped me off, however. It was your tattoo." He lowered his eyes purposefully to her right wrist.  
  
She instinctively pulled on the sleeve of her jacket to cover up the black rose. It was about the size of a quarter—a small brand on her wrist.  
  
"How clever of you, Mr. Werewolf, but I don't have time for this. Please escort me to Thierry Descourdes."  
  
The 'wolf gave a shout of laughter and grinned at her. "It's not that simple, Piper."  
  
Piper decided that she really didn't like this boy.  
  
"Please, I really need to talk with him. I don't have an appointment, but I'm willing to wait all day." Piper felt her ice-y shell melting to reveal a weary young girl underneath.  
  
That did the trick. The wolf boy looked at her for a long moment and then went into his security station. There were voices coming from inside, and Piper wondered just how powerful this Thierry guy was to have a building full of hired muscle at his front gate. The boy reemerged from the white hut with an expressionless face.  
  
"He's currently occupied with a very pressing matter—"  
  
"I said I don't mind waiting all day if I have to. I don't expect him to drop everything and greet me at the door." Piper interjected.  
  
"—but you may wait inside until he is available." The werewolf finished. He tilted his head to the left when he looked at the duffel swung over her shoulder. "Would you like me to take your, uh, bag?"  
  
"No." Piper's voice came out in a harsh, clipped tone. She hated it when people tried to help her. She didn't need any help. She wasn't inferior; she could do it on her own. Then why are you here, Stupid? She decided to try and be polite. She wanted these people's help. "Yes, thank you."  
  
"My name is Asper. You might as well get to know me since you're going to be around for awhile. Lord Thierry is a very busy man." Asper swung her duffel over his shoulder and turned toward the giant gates. There was a slight pause and then they slowly opened. Piper guessed that one of the guards inside the little hut had pushed a button or something of the sort.  
  
"Are you ready?" He had turned to give her a curious look due to her lack of response. That was because Piper was starting to panic. This is it. I'm really going to go in there and start all over. I'm going to have to try and fix everything. I need to prove that I still have some use left; a purpose to serve.  
  
"Let's do it." She fell into step beside Asper and they walked down the paved driveway to the awaiting mansion. The atmosphere was all too familiar to Piper, however. The intense security, the illustrious house, and the big black rose on the double front doors that led inside all brought a wave of pain and memories to her senses. She hoped "Lord Thierry" was a completely different person from Adrian.  
  
Asper reached over and pushed a black buzzer on the side of the house. After a moment, a medium-sized young man with long blonde hair that was pulled back answered the door.  
  
"Nilsson, this is Piper. She has an appointment with Lord Thierry and is supposed to wait for him inside."  
  
"Yes, of course, Asper. Please come in, Miss. We can take it from here." He gave Asper a firm nod at this and then took Piper's bag. Asper actually waved his hand at Piper before turning to go down the steps. She just stared back at him with a face devoid of emotion.  
  
The furnishings inside Mr. Descourdes' home were even more immaculate than those outside. The entrance connected to a hall with marble pillars that reached from the matching tile floor to the ceiling of the house. Piper guessed it was around four stories up. There was a set of French Doors to her left that led to a parlor that was decorated in earth tones such as sienna and mauve. To her right was yet another large sitting room with three couches, all with matching ottomans, and two love seats. This room was a soft rose petal color with mahogany bookcases lining the walls. The den, I'm guessing. Straight ahead of them was a very long and very wide staircase. It had wood railings on each side of it with deep carvings in them. The corridor they were now facing continued on either side of the stairs.  
  
"Where would you like me to put this, Miss? I can give you a guest room upstairs if you'd like. You may be here that long. Lord Thierry—"  
  
"—is a very busy man, I know. That will be fine, thanks. Is it possible for me to get something to….eat?" Piper turned to the butler nervously. What she really meant was, can I hunt here or do you have blood for me somewhere in the kitchen?  
  
Nilsson gave her an amused glance and turned to go up the gigantic carpeted staircase.  
  
"The woods out back stretch for miles and have a variety of game in them. If, however, you prefer human prey we could find you a willing donor. What is your preference?"  
  
"I'll go hunting in the woods after dark."  
  
"Very well." Nilsson briskly made his way up to the top of the steps and took a right turn into another long corridor. This one had numerous paintings and candle sconces along the walls. There was a door every twenty feet down the hall which must have reached close to 200 feet in length.  
  
"I think you'll do fine in the medium suite. It has just about everything you'd need--except the kitchen. You may go hunting whenever you like, just so long as you return within an hour of your departure. The guards might become a little wary if you linger too long. If you need anything, there is a phone on the bedside table. All you need to do is pick it up and dial zero." While saying all of this, the young butler had pushed open the door of the suite and set her bag down on the huge four-poster bed along the far wall.  
  
Piper examined the room carefully. There was a large entertainment center against one wall with a couch across from it. A very spacious walk-in closet was next to the door that she assumed led to the bathroom. There was a balcony next to the king sized bed that overlooked a very large garden to the side of the house. Piper liked how it made a swift and easy exit, if need be.  
  
"Thank you, Nilsson. This will do nicely." Piper's ears suddenly pricked up at the faintness of footsteps on carpet in a room across the hall. "Is there anyone else staying in this wing of the house?"  
  
Nilsson raised an eyebrow at her inquisitiveness, but gave her an honest answer nonetheless. "This is the guests' wing. Yes, there are a few friends of Lord Thierry staying here this week. However, I don't believe that they wish to be disturbed. I'll see you later, Miss Piper. Good evening and good night."  
  
Piper watched the man leave and shut the door behind him. She decided not to correct him on the "miss" title either. She was never one for formalities, even though Adrian had thrived on such things. Any opportunity for his power to be recognized or gawked at was always used to his advantage.  
  
Suddenly there was a quick knock on her door, and then it was pushed open. A boy, around nineteen or so, stood in its wake. He had ash-blonde hair and a very lithe, well-muscled body. His ever-shifting eyes told her that he was one of the lamia.  
  
"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else. Who are you, by the way?" The stranger leaned against her doorframe and crossed his arms.  
  
Piper gave him a cool look and then turned to cross the room. Once she reached the balcony she pushed back the lace curtain with her right index finger and stared at the gardens below.  
  
"Are you one of Hannah's friends?"  
  
She turned and frowned at him. "No, I'm here to speak to Thierry."  
  
"Ahhhh, so you're here on business. I should have guessed." He walked over to her sofa and plopped down onto the middle cushion.  
  
"You never told me your name. I'm Ash Redfern." As he spoke he reached out to shake her hand. Piper didn't make a move to do the same. He glanced at her tattoo.  
  
"Piper. Let's get one thing straight right now, Ash. I'm not your friend. The sooner you realize that I'm an antisocial bitch, the sooner we can skip the chatty pleasantries." She stood facing him with her hands on her hips.  
  
"Easy there, Tiger! I'm just trying to get to know my new house-mate." He put his hands up in a surrendering gesture.  
  
"Is that what you were doing? Funny, I thought you were putting the moves on me." Piper raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Naw, that's just wishful thinking on your part." He winked to let her know he was jesting. "I'm taken."  
  
"Give her my regards and deepest sympathies." Piper went over and unzipped her duffel bag. No better time to unpack than the present. Well, it wasn't as if she had anything better to do.  
  
"I think you and I are going to get along just fine." He gave her a grin to rival the Cheshire cat's.  
  
"Why are you still here?" She asked in frustration.  
  
"You really are antisocial." He chuckled and stood up from the couch in one fluid movement. "Alright, what should we do first?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Well, there's the game room, the bowling alley, or the swimming pool. Oooo, or maybe we could go hit the town. This IS Vegas after all." Ash rubbed his hands together eagerly.  
  
"What part of antisocial don't you understand?"  
  
He frowned at her and sat down on the bed next to her unzipped bag. "You are the one who doesn't understand. You're the only company I've had in two days! I don't think you could comprehend the vast relief I'm feeling for another person's presence right now."  
  
Piper gave him a skeptical look.  
  
"Come on! It'll be fun. You don't know how to party until you've partied with The Ash." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and gave a devilish grin.  
  
Piper heaved a sigh of resignation. I suppose that since I'm stuck here I'll have to get used to him. Perhaps his friendship will even work to my advantage. If he's a friend of Thierry's, then Mr. Descourdes might not be so quick to kill me.  
  
"So, anyway, back to square one. What daring escapades shall we embark on together tonight?"  
  
"Well…do you know where a starving vampire can get anything to eat around here?"  
  
"I knew we'd get along great together." Ash winked as Piper tried very hard not to smile.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Piper lifted her head from the doe that she had just finished feeding off of. She used her telepathy to remove the tranquil veil from the creature's mind and gave it a mental push to run back to its family. The woods were thrumming with life. All around her there were trees that seemed to reach to the sky. An occasional owl cried out into the air as it took flight on the other side of the forest. Nature had always brought Piper a peace that nothing else could seem to match. Well, almost nothing…  
  
"Has that lovely appetite of yours been satiated yet?" Ash called from a little to her left. He strode over to where she was standing gazing up at the stars.  
  
When she didn't respond right away, he studied her face.  
  
"It's one of the few things I don't despise about being what we are." She commented softly.  
  
"What's that?" He answered just as quietly.  
  
How I can hear that raccoon and her babies scurrying up that oak tree a half-mile away. How the stars look like diamonds, sparkling endlessly against black velvet. How I can feel the essence of this forest on my skin, as if it were the wind. I have never regretted giving up my old life for those things. She turned to Ash and gave him a tenuous smile. It was the first time she'd communicated telepathically with someone in months. She'd learned to guard her thoughts and feelings so well that it had become almost physically painful to share them with anyone else.  
  
Ash smiled back at her and turned to walk back to the mansion. She fell into a languid pace beside him and let her thoughts overcome her.  
  
"How long ago were you changed?" Ash inquired after a moment of silence.  
  
Immediately Piper's smile faltered and she turned to him with very serious eyes.  
  
"Not yet. I know that when I speak to Lord Thierry I'll have to relive my past, but until then I'd prefer to just enjoy this night. I promise you, Ash, that I'll tell you everything. It's just too soon and I'm not ready. Please trust me." Piper wasn't sure what had made her convey such strong emotions toward this lamia boy she barely knew. Perhaps it was because he had been so kind to her when she needed a friend.  
  
"No problem, I'm not one to pry. In fact, I'm up for a rousing game of pool myself. Care to join me, Cupcake? Or are you afraid I'll kick your undead ass?" His teeth flashed in the darkness of the woods as he taunted her.  
  
"You're on, Pretty Boy."  
  
They raced each other back to the mansion and burst into the back hallway.  
  
"The Game room is down the hall and to the right…" Ash started to walk in the direction he was pointing while Piper followed close behind him.  
  
Piper turned at the sudden sound of footsteps nearby.  
  
"A human's coming." She stated gravely to Ash and turned around to face the approaching person.  
  
Ash turned as well and smiled when Hannah came out of one of the rooms in the hallway.  
  
"That's Hannah, Lord Thierry's soulmate." He waved to the tall girl with wheat-blonde hair and grey eyes. Piper could detect a sense of respect emanating from Ash. Apparently, Hannah was someone of status.  
  
"Ash, up to more trouble I see. Who's your new friend?" Hannah smiled at Piper as she walked towards the two vampires.  
  
"Piper, this is Hannah. Hannah, Piper. She's here on business to speak to Thierry. Apparently he's too busy to see her until tomorrow, though."  
  
"Well, being the Elder for all of southern California would demand a full schedule from anyone. Pleased to meet you, Piper. Are you…a cousin of Ash's?" Hannah asked carefully. Piper noticed that there was a definite spark in this girl's eyes. A glint of wisdom seemed to be in them.  
  
"I'm not lamia, if that's what you're asking. I was made a vampire about two years ago." Piper replied hesitantly. She felt uneasy around this girl, as if she were being judged by her.  
  
"Welcome to our house. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you from now on." Hannah smiled warmly and put a friendly hand on Piper's arm.  
  
Piper immediately flinched at the touch. Human contact was something she rarely experienced. Hannah seemed to recognize her discomfort, however, and removed her hand quickly. The Old Soul had seen many things in all of her lives, but never someone with so much pain in their eyes.  
  
"I have some things that I need to do now, but if you'd like extra company later I'd be glad to offer mine." Hannah turned to Ash who grinned back at her.  
  
"How could I resist being in the same room with two gorgeous blondes for hours on end?"  
  
Hannah shook her head and gave a short laugh. "You haven't changed at all, Ash Redfern. Just wait until Mary-Lynnette sees you again--same old rakish charm as ever."  
  
Piper turned her jungle green eyes on him then. The name Mary-Lynnette had caused a look of loneliness to cross Ash's face. Was she the girlfriend he'd mentioned earlier? Were they soulmates like Thierry and Hannah? For some reason that thought brought a twinge of pain to Piper's heart. Just because she wasn't happy didn't mean no one else could be either.  
  
"See you around, Hannah." He called a farewell as she turned to go up the flight of stairs at the end of the hall.  
  
"She seems nice." Piper allowed.  
  
"Oh she is. She's an Old Soul, you know. She's been around since back when Maya bit Thierry." Ash watched Hannah go up the stairs until she disappeared out of sight.  
  
"So do you want to go play pool? Or are you thinking about going to brood after your girlfriend in your room?" Piper poked him in the back to get his attention.  
  
"I've kind of lost my competitive edge now. You might actually win. I think that brooding sounds like a fair alternative, though. I might even give her a call. It's hard to be without your soulmate, Piper. You feel so….so…"  
  
"Incomplete. It's as if there's a void in your being where they belong." She finished for him sadly.  
  
Ash's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he didn't question how she knew what it felt like.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"  
  
"I'm a creature of the night. What makes you think that I get up for mornings?" Piper tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere with some gentle teasing.  
  
"I have faith in you, Piper Camden. Don't ask me why, I can't explain it. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm such a sucker for blondes…" He grinned at her and turned to go upstairs. "What will you do while I'm confined to my room and the telephone?"  
  
"In a house this size I'm sure I'll think of something. Goodnight, Ash."  
  
"Later, Piper." The blonde boy turned and jogged up the stairwell without a backward glance.  
  
Piper watched his retreating form for a moment and then spun around to face all of the doors in the hallway. What on earth could you need all of these rooms for?  
  
Piper decided to find out just what was behind them all. Technically she wasn't snooping; all of the bedrooms were on the top floor. Besides, she reasoned to herself, I'm just peeking in. It's not as if I'm going to go through anything. With that justification in mind, she turned to the first door on her left. It was the one Hannah had come out of. It was a dark cherry wood with a pattern carved around the frame. The gold knob was cool to her palm as she took a deep breath and turned the handle.  
  
It opened swiftly and soundlessly. It was pitch black inside, except for some moonlight that filtered faintly onto the floor from underneath a set of drapes. Piper's night vision allowed her to see perfectly well in the dark as well as a lighted room. She stepped inside to take a closer look. This one was about the size of a tennis court and decorated in rose colors. There was a large desk against one wall with a computer, a fax machine, a telephone, and various other technological devices on it. The opposite wall was lined with bookcases that were overflowing with various paperbacks. There was also a strange little statue on one of the shelves of a duckbilled platypus's skeletal structure. Is Hannah in college? What is her major? Piper frowned with thought and turned to the third wall. This one had three large filing cabinets against it. Piper knew it was wrong to go through other people's things, so she bit down on the urge to go open them.  
  
The last wall was the one opposite the door that had the large bay window in it. There was a painting on the wall next to the window. It was of a boy with frost white hair and sorrowful eyes. He wore a dark business suit and wasn't smiling. Why would you ever want such a depressing picture in your office?  
  
Piper thought she recognized the young man's face, though. She went back over to Hannah's desk. In a silver picture frame next to the fax machine was a photo of her and the young man. They were both dressed to the nines and standing in what appeared to be a ballroom of some sort. Hannah's hair was twisted up gracefully and she was smiling at the camera. The blonde boy looked as if he was aware of the photographer at the last minute. He had a small smile on his face and a surprised look in his eyes.  
  
"Really not the best picture of me I know, but Hannah insists that it's her favorite. I keep telling her how un-photogenic I am, but somehow that escapes her notice." The voice was a soft baritone and it was coming from ten feet behind her.  
  
Piper turned to see the boy from the picture standing in the doorway that she'd left open.  
  
"I'll take a shot in the dark, so to speak, and guess that you're Piper. I'm sure you've already surmised who I am. Do you mind if I turn on the lights? I'm so used to Hannah having them on in here." He reached out his left hand and flipped a switch on the wall. The room illuminated and Piper's eyes adjusted instantly.  
  
"Please have a seat on one of her conference chairs. You won't mind if I sit at her desk, I'm sure." Lord Thierry Descourdes said with a slight smile.  
  
Piper sat in one of the light pink cushioned chairs facing Hannah's desk.  
  
"We meet at last. I understand that you traveled all of the way from New York City. I'm sorry that I didn't contact you sooner, but I've had some important meetings all day." He leaned back in the seat and folded his hands behind his head.  
  
Piper tried to swallow the lump in her throat and respond. "They warned me that you'd be busy."  
  
"Well I'm free now. There was something you needed to discuss with me? I know you didn't come all of the way out to my house just to get an autograph." His smiled did nothing to lessen the tension in Piper's bones. What if I mention Circle Daybreak and he has me arrested? What if he accuses me of treason and turns me into the Council? That's nonsense…he has a human soulmate. That still didn't keep Piper from worrying.  
  
"Actually, I did have something important to ask you." She started slowly. Piper had come all of the way out here for this, she couldn't back down now. "I wanted to know if you lead the secret society of Circle Daybreak."  
  
There was a long pause as Thierry's smile faded and he stared at her face. "Just where did you hear that, Miss Camden?" He asked softly.  
  
"Some 'shifter who I met in the park a few weeks back told me. She said that you could help me start over. She said that you'd know how to take care of me. W-Was she wrong?" Piper inquired softly.  
  
Thierry sat up in the chair abruptly and folded his hands on the surface of his soulmate's desk. "Not quite. I do happen to be in charge of Circle Daybreak, which is an underground union of humans and Night People. We try our best for everyone to get along and live in peace. I cannot help you though, Piper, until you tell me why you're really here. What brought you to my doorstep? Why did you travel so far in search of something you weren't even sure existed?"  
  
Piper took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She knew this would be coming. She'd have to tell a complete stranger what she herself was still trying to erase from her memory. All of the horror, pain, and grief was about to break loose like a tidal wave; and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  
  
"Piper," Thierry said softly, "who changed you?"  
  
The question she dreaded most of all. A rush of tears stung the backs of her eyelids but she refused to let them spill over. She would confide in this man and seek his help, for she knew it was impossible to seek forgiveness. To have someone else bestow such a thing on you, you must first bestow it upon yourself. Piper snapped her eyes open and met Lord Thierry's gaze.  
  
"His name was Adrian, and he was another elder of the Night World…" 


	2. Chapter 2: the flashback

Alright, I forgot this the first time and I apologize. It is in here now before any real damage was done however ( This is the notorious DISCLAIMER and the just as infamous SPOILER. To sum up, I don't own anything. I am borrowing the entire Night World concept and characters from the head of the almighty Lisa Jane Smith. Piper, Adrian, and any other characters you can't seem to remember from her books are mine. Now for the spoiler: basically, if you haven't read all of the Night World books, you won't understand a few of the events that are strewn about this fic. Of course it is your choice to read this or not, so…PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK AND ENJOY.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
**Flashback to two years ago**  
  
It's only one night, what's the worst that could happen? Piper bit her lower lip and sighed.  
  
"Come on, Piper! I just have to wear my new leather miniskirt! It's adorable! I'll let you borrow some of my clothes. I know you can't turn down my Gucci skirt." Charity Sanders' sing-song voice whined through the other end of Piper's cordless phone. Charity had been Piper's best friend since second grade. Their birthdays were only a month apart. Charity's birthday had been last week and now they were both finally eighteen.  
  
"Alright, you've convinced me. I'll go with you to that club of yours."  
  
"YES! It's so cool! Better than the last one I took you to."  
  
"You mean dragged me to!" Piper grinned and flopped down on her yellow comforter. Charity was the most boy-crazy person Piper knew. Every weekend it was a new dive or café to explore. If the guys passed Charity's inspections, she snagged one and then went back the following week to repeat the process.  
  
"Well, it's about time you got back into the dating pool! You broke up with Josh three weeks ago, Girl. It's time to go out there in a slinky outfit and dive back in." Charity was one of those people who you could tell was smiling without even having to look at her face. This was one of those times.  
  
"Well, I don't know. I'm not so eager to hook up with anybody just yet." Piper stared across the room at her vanity mirror covered with pictures that had holes in them where Josh's face used to be.  
  
"Forget that! When have you ever known what's best for you? That's my job, Babe! So get your ass over here at eight tonight."  
  
"Piper, dinner's ready!" Piper's step-mom, Joyce, yelled up the stairs.  
  
"Hey, I have to go. Joyce concocted another potion that she wants to pass as food."  
  
"I'm not letting you hang up until you agree that you're coming."  
  
"Fine, see you at eight."  
  
"Goodbye, Dear Friend."  
  
"Bye, Psycho!" Piper laughed and punched the talk button. She padded down the white-carpeted stairs and into the kitchen.  
  
"There you are! I almost thought you'd slipped out of the house and I hadn't noticed." Joyce smiled at Piper and patted a stray piece of graying brown hair behind her ear.  
  
"Why'd we have to wait for her anyway?" Piper's half-brother, Mike, stuck his tongue out at his older sister.  
  
"You're nine. You wouldn't understand the priorities in an eighteen-year- old girl's life." Joyce ruffled his dark hair and sat down at one end of the table. "Your father's working late tonight, but he called to say that he'll take you to the diamond tomorrow night."  
  
"He promised! I have to practice my batting, Mom!" Mike looked close to tears. He'd learned right away that the quickest way to get what you want is to scream for it.  
  
"Don't you worry, Mikey. You'll be the best batter on your team this year. Why don't you and I go to a movie tonight instead?" Joyce patted his shoulder and turned to look at Piper, who had just finished rolling her eyes.  
  
"Would you like to come with us, Piper? It'd be a family outing." Joyce was trying so hard to win Piper's acceptance that it was written all over her face.  
  
"Actually I'm going over to Charity's to stay the night. I should be home tomorrow afternoon, though." She reached for the bowl full of fruit salad.  
  
"I told you that I don't think that girl's a good influence on you." Joyce stated grimly.  
  
"She's a slut." Mike put-in happily.  
  
"Michael, I don't want you using that kind of language. Charity is known as a bit promiscuous, Piper." Joyce reached for the pitcher of lemonade on Charity's left while Mike stuck out his tongue.  
  
"Birds of a feather flock together." Mike sang out joyfully.  
  
"Michael!" Joyce frowned at him, but didn't bother to refute his point.  
  
"You always said I should involve myself with a variety of people. Charity's the diversity in my life." Piper gave Joyce one of her tight- lipped smiles and set down her fork. "Besides, I've known her a hell of a lot longer than you."  
  
"Piper Elizabeth, that profanity will not be tolerated in my house!" Joyce rose up out of her chair and clutched the tablecloth until her knuckles turned white.  
  
"It's my dad's house, not yours. I'm out of here." Piper stalked out of the kitchen and grabbed her black purse from the hall. She didn't grab a jacket because the weather had been very nice for New York City this time of year.  
  
"Just wait until your father hears this! I can't believe that after all I've done you still treat me like a monster!" Joyce's shrieking could be heard as Piper ran down the steps of their brownstone.  
  
The sidewalk was full of the usual citizens of The Big Apple. Piper's mother had always hated how crowded it was here. Everybody getting nowhere really fast, she'd used to say. Except that Piper's mother was dead and her daughter was currently on her way to spend the weekend with a notorious tramp. A rebellious current was flowing through her veins as she turned a corner. Maybe she would hook up with a random guy tonight and get herself impregnated. Joyce would have heart palpitations, Piper thought with a smirk. Of course she'd never do any such thing, but it was nice to think that she had the chance. She pulled her cell out and dialed up the town whore to tell her she was coming over two hours early.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
  
  
"I told you this place was bitchin'." Charity yelled over the earth- thumping music. The club was full of sweaty bodies and deafening noise.  
  
"What's this place called again?" Piper shouted back as some guy in a leather suit grinned at her from across the dance floor.  
  
Charity hiked her skirt up a little more and leaned back on her elbows to show off her cleavage. "The Black Iris. All of the guys here are to die for. Look at that one behind the bar for example. He's delicious." She licked her lips to demonstrate and gave him a flirty smile.  
  
"You girls ordering anything?" The sandy-haired guy of Charity's affections asked.  
  
"Depends what you'll serve me, sweetheart." Charity flipped her hair, and Piper recognized the signal that she was open for business. In about two minutes this guy would be serving her free alcohol and think she was a junior at NYU. Piper had seen it happen countless times.  
  
"I'm going to go dance." Piper had to poke Charity hard in the ribs and repeat herself before her best friend acknowledged that she was leaving. She had no idea what song was playing – some primal beat with lots of bass. Anything was good enough for her. She'd always had smooth body movements that allowed her to look graceful and confident even when she fell down the stairs.  
  
As she moved down into the strobe lights and smoke, a strange feeling came over her senses. She swayed to the music and thought, Charity was right—just about every person in this club could be an Abercrombie & Fitch model. They were all so fluid and beautiful. There were some occasional average-looking people, but they were surrounded by the beautiful ones.  
  
That's nonsense. I just need a drink. The thought came to her clearly and distinctly. A drink would calm her nerves. She was just jittery about being single again. Piper stopped dancing in place and went over to the bar. Charity had wandered off to another side of the club to sit on the lap of some college guy. Piper found an empty bar stool and sat down.  
  
"What do you want, Sweetheart?" A brunette girl who looked to be about twenty-three asked in a Brooklyn accent. She was about five foot eight and seemed to have the whole bartender look down.  
  
"A water with lime, please." Piper gave her order and watched the girl behind the counter turn to get a glass.  
  
"Oh, come now. Nobody goes to a club like this and drinks water. I'll have a scotch on the rocks, please." The voice was soft and intoxicating to Piper's senses. She glanced to her right where a young man had sat down without her noticing. He was fairly tall and broad-shouldered with curly, black hair and eyes. He had fairly tan skin and almost seemed to be of South American descent.  
  
"You should at least try one of the house specialties." He flashed Piper a devilish grin and smeared on the charm.  
  
"No thank you." She felt a tugging of some sort inside of her. This man made her breath speed up and her palms sweat. It was as if she were nervous just sitting next to him. An excited rush seemed to hum through her limbs and she felt the urge to flirt back.  
  
"You may order anything you like—my treat."  
  
"What's your name?" Piper asked, smiling at this handsome stranger.  
  
"Adrian Redfern. Who might you be?"  
  
"Piper. Since you seem to be such an expert on this matter, Adrian, why don't you order for me?" She crossed her long legs in his direction and let her hair tumble over her shoulder. After all, you don't spend ten years of your life with the town slut and not learn a thing or two. Not that Piper had a reputation as notorious as Charity's was. Piper was the extremely friendly and outgoing girl who just broke up with the pitcher of the baseball team. She wasn't really one for casual sex.  
  
"In that case, might I suggest some dirty shots?" Adrian's eyebrows rose and he grinned wickedly.  
  
Piper smiled back but wrinkled her nose. "I don't think so."  
  
"Not a big drinker, I like that. You're a girl who likes to be in control of her own actions and words. Not really one for authority figures either. I love a girl with spirit." Adrian picked up his glass of scotch and downed the rest of it in one swallow.  
  
Piper's smile slipped a little and she wondered about this guy. He was in black slacks and a black button-up shirt. Except that the first three buttons were undone. A feeling of tranquility washed over Piper then and she smiled back at Adrian.  
  
Adrian set down his glass with a sigh and then turned to Piper with a fake expression of pondering. Suddenly he grinned with inspiration and turned to the bartending redhead. "I've got it. Two Bloody Mary's please."  
  
The redhead gave Adrian a sly smile and went to fetch the drinks. Piper wasn't really paying attention to anything but the stranger next to her or she would have noticed the slight exchange. In this light, Adrian seemed almost god-like. He had black fathomless eyes and a well-built body. Raw sexual magnetism seemed to emanate from his body. Piper was starting to feel a thrum of excitement on her skin.  
  
"Here you go, two Bloody Mary's." The redhead smirked and set down the glasses.  
  
"Oh, I didn't want one. I don't care much for mixed drinks myself. These are both for you." Adrian pushed his glass over in front of Piper.  
  
"Both of them? What makes you think I want this much to drink?" Piper looked at the glass doubtfully.  
  
"Once you've tasted a Bloody Mary you simply have to have more. Believe me, one drink won't be enough." Adrian coaxed softly – and it wasn't.  
  
Two Bloody Mary's and a shot of tequila later, Piper was dizzy enough that Adrian was supporting her on his lap.  
  
The physical contact made her head spin even more.  
  
"You smell really good." Piper leaned in to sniff his shirt just to demonstrate.  
  
Adrian gave a small smile and then pulled out his wallet. He laid down a ten for the drinks and then stood up from the bar. Piper almost slipped onto the floor with a crash, but he held her by one arm almost effortlessly.  
  
"Where are we going?" She asked with a slight slur. Although not completely drunk, she still didn't have a clear thought process right then.  
  
"I'm calling for my driver." Adrian flipped out his cell phone and pushed a few buttons.  
  
He must have been muttering into it, but Piper was too busy scanning the crowd for Charity. Where was that girl?  
  
"Come on, Piper. It's time to go." Adrian steered her through the crowd of people and out the side door of the club.  
  
"Wait, I have to find Charity. She's my ride home." Piper turned loosely in his hand, so he tightened his grip. "Hey, that hurts." She quit trying to look for Charity and rubbed her sore arm instead.  
  
The night air was cool and breezy. Piper looked up at the stars and sighed. Well, she was sure the stars were there. The bright lights of the City That Never Sleeps tend to hinder such things. Just then a black limo pulled up in the front of the club.  
  
"Get in, Piper." Adrian said sternly. Later, Piper would spend hours wondering why she simply obeyed and didn't even put up a fight. When she finally did ask Adrian about it, he'd said he'd been using a substantial amount of mind control on her at the time.  
  
Piper climbed into the backseat right before Adrian did. Once the vehicle was in motion, Piper's head began to get even fuzzier.  
  
"Where are we going, Adrian?" She asked sleepily.  
  
"I'm taking you home, Piper; to your new home."  
  
"I liked my old home." She frowned over this revelation and his face blurred at the edges.  
  
"You'll like mine better." The last thing Piper saw was Adrian's unearthly face giving a self-satisfied grin as she slumped to the floor of the limo. 


	3. Chapter 3

WOW! Thanks for the feedback, Everybody! I'm glad you like to read this as much as I love to write it. I'm hoping to get chapter four up before the end of next week. Enjoy, Peachy 3  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Thierry stared at this poor girl who had faced a fate similar to his own – unwilling conversion. Piper had yet to look him in the eyes while speaking, but Thierry could understand her hesitation. It must have been difficult to relive such a painful experience, but he had no idea of what was to come.  
  
"What happened when you woke up?" He inquired softly.  
  
She took in a deep breath and stayed fixated on her hands. She had folded them in her lap when the recollection had begun, and now they were fidgeting nervously.  
  
"I woke up naked and alone in between the sheets of a bed I'd never seen or smelled before in my life. How I knew I'd never smelled it before scared me out of my wits. I looked around for some clothes and found a bathrobe lying on a table nearby. I climbed out of the giant bed and wrapped it around myself. Then I went into the adjoining bathroom. What I saw in the mirror fascinated me. My eyes were…different. My hair had become shinier as well. I looked like a model -- like the people at the Black Iris. My throat was becoming more and more constricted by the minute. I tried to cup my hands under the sink for a drink of water, but that did nothing to satiate the burning need that had grown inside of me. I couldn't see or think about anything but the hunger. It had taken me over, and by the time I heard Adrian approaching I was writhing on the floor in pain.  
  
He came into the room with a small boy next to him, perhaps nine or ten, and held the child by his shoulders. I could tell the boy had been sedated somehow by the vapid look in his eyes. I didn't care at that point, however. I lunged for the breathing body and fed. I was uncontrollable. It felt so good to have what I'd been dying without just moments before. When I pulled back the life in the boys eyes had gone out. He was dead." Piper's face twisted into a grimace, but she refused to let herself cry.  
  
"Adrian called some men to dispose of 'it'. They came and dragged the body away. He didn't care that it was just a little boy. He told me then what I had become-- a creature of the night, the most powerful being on earth. I refused to accept anything he was saying and ran to the bathroom. I wanted to throw-up, but I couldn't because my body needed the blood too much right after the change. I threw myself down on the bed and cried. Adrian sat next to me and stroked my hair. He just kept repeating over and over how it's always a shock at first but soon I'd embrace it. Then I would thank him and be the perfect companion. I was a captive." Piper's voice had taken on a dead resonance, a cold that chilled Thierry down to his undead heart.  
  
"Did Adrian tell you why he changed you? It sounds to me like you're an illegal vampire." Thierry tried to make his voice as gentle as possible, but Piper ignored his consideration.  
  
"Oh Adrian had his reasons. He always had reasons." Piper finally raised her gaze to look Thierry dead in the eye. "He got permission from Hunter."  
  
"Hunter?! Hunter Redfern gave his grand nephew Adrian the right to break Night World law?" Thierry leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyebrows.  
  
"After Quinn betrayed him, Hunter needed a new successor. Delos turned out a mistake as well. He felt that he needed someone of his own blood, no matter how diluted, who had a thirst for power to match his own. His search led him to Adrian's front step. Of course Adrian accepted the position as Hunter's second-in-command, but he had a few demands of his own to make. Now that Adrian was a full fledged elder who practically had a seat on the council, he'd need an ornament. Someone to take with him to all of the Night World functions and Council get-togethers. Hunter agreed that a woman to keep Adrian busy sounded like a good idea. Whatever would make Adrian happy would make Hunter happy as well. So he suggested a few names to Adrian, but all of them were rejected in one way or another. So Hunter asked him who he did want, and Adrian said there was a girl he'd seen at some of his clubs that had caught his eye. So Hunter gave him the go ahead to check it out. The ironic part is that Adrian meant Charity. He'd been watching Charity, but when I came with her that Saturday night he decided I was better merchandise." Piper's eyes had become fuzzy with tears and what-ifs.  
  
"I can't believe that Hunter would work behind The Council's back like that. I had wondered why the last New York City elder had been so quickly replaced with such a young and inexperienced vampire. Perhaps young and impressionable would be a more accurate description." Thierry shook his head slightly in thought.  
  
"For the next eight months I was kept locked inside of that house. Adrian wanted to keep me there until the world forgot about me, and the missing posters with my face on them went away. I was forced to turn my back on my life. All of my friends, Joyce, Mike, my father—I would never see any of them again. Instead it was a house full of strangers with a dark man as my keeper. The amazing thing is that in the beginning I actually felt some affection towards Adrian. Later, I learned that most made vampires experience a blood-bond with the one who changes them. For those first several months, though, I adored Adrian and respected everything he said and did." Piper shook her head faintly as if in disbelief.  
  
"Piper, did Adrian ever…" Thierry's eyebrows narrowed as he searched for a tactful way to phrase his question. "…hurt you in any way? As in force himself or others on you? Or were you left alone? I guess what I'm saying is, what did he do with you once he had you there?"  
  
"Just what he'd promised Hunter. I went with him to all of the fancy balls and dinners, but I refused to speak with any of the tyrants there. After my first dinner at the elder of Detroit's house, I looked at those men in their suits with their blood martinis and realized that power is like sea water – one sip and you are thirsty for more and more.  
  
"Adrian did buy me countless new outfits to wear to the occasions, however. As I said before, he kept me locked in the house during the day. After about a year with him he let me go out on my own and believe me I didn't hesitate. He gave me money to go shopping or to a play, but I found those things tiring after a while. Instead I found myself rediscovering the city and the people in it, and envying their precious lives. I would go to the park and just sit on an aloof bench and watch the people go by. Sometimes I went to museums and did the same thing. I was so lonely and homesick that it had become a permanent sting inside of me. Certainly I had the latest fashions and trends – courtesy of Adrian's charge cards – but I didn't have anyone to talk to." Piper sighed and folded her arms gently across her chest.  
  
"In answer to the first part of your question: no, in the beginning it wasn't rape. I told you that I had a certain infatuation with Adrian. I went willingly to him when he called. There were times of course when he was demanding, but I always forgave him. I was so naïve." She frowned and looked up at Thierry.  
  
He leaned forward in the desk chair again and folded his hands on the wood surface in front of him. "Piper, you keep saying 'in the beginning' or 'when it started'. Why do you keep using those phrases? Did something happen that changed everything you said, something with Adrian or Hunter?"  
  
Piper's face softened immensely and she slid down in her chair a tiny notch. "No, nothing happened involving them. It was me. Everything became different because of what I did. Nothing was the same when I met Connor." Her voice broke on the name her chin trembled almost imperceptibly. If Thierry hadn't been reading the emotions in her mind, he would have sworn that she was going to cry. Instead, there was a distinct sense of longing and peace in her mind at the thought of this person.  
  
"Piper, who is Connor?" Thierry asked softly.  
  
"Connor was my souldmate." 


	4. Chapter 4: Connor

Chapter Four: "Connor"  
  
Thierry leaned forward in his soulmate's desk chair and stared at the enigma before him. She had suffered so much already, but he had a feeling that Piper's story didn't get any happier. She was staring vacantly at a paperweight on Hannah's desk. Thierry would have thought her comatose except for the fact that her jaw was imperceptibly trembling. He felt like a monster making her go through all of the bitter details, but he had a feeling she needed to tell it as much as he wanted to hear it.  
  
"Piper? Piper, why did you say Connor was your soulmate? Did something happen to him? Piper?" Thierry stared at her expressionless face and waited to be acknowledged.  
  
She spoke after a moment of hesitation, but her voice could have been that of a stranger. There was no emotion; she was just stating a fact. Her eyes, however, continued to stare at memories that were branded into the back of her mind.  
  
"Connor was my soulmate, but not any more. He's dead."  
  
Thierry sat in shocked silence. The dead look on her face made him want to weep for her, but now wasn't the time for sympathy.  
  
"Was Connor a human? How did he die? I don't mean to upset you, Piper, but I'd like to get some background here."  
  
Piper's throat constricted as demons from her past danced in her eyes.  
  
"Connor was a twenty year old NYU student. He was from San Francisco and loved New York City like a second home, but most of all he loved to play chess in the park." Piper's voice was foreign to her, as if someone else was speaking those words. Words from her past which had been locked deep inside her. As the words escaped, so did the memories. Suddenly, Piper wasn't in the opulent office chair with the pink cushion. She was sitting on a stone bench in Central Park, watching the fountain in the mid- afternoon sun…  
  
~~~~~  
  
The park was bustling with people that morning. There were joggers on the path, tourists with cameras around their necks, and children feeding the ducks. Piper was wearing a very expensive Armani skirt and jacket. It was a bit chilly out, but her hair was tied up out of the wind. She wore dark Oakley's to protect her sensitive vampire eyes from the glare of the sun off the pond.  
  
Piper had no fear of being recognized by anyone from her old life. She had completely changed in the last eight months. Her hair was now just above her waist, instead of falling softly past her shoulders. Her complexion had become translucent and unearthly beautiful. Her once dusty-green eyes had become an ever-shifting green. One minute they were jungle green and pensive, the next vibrant emerald and hostile.  
  
Piper glanced over towards the chess tables. Miss Emma was sitting at her usual table trying to coerce a passer-by into a game or two. Piper had seen this woman come to the park just as often as she did. Miss Emma was a mid-sixties black woman with dirty clothes and glasses but an award winning smile that caught people's attention. Piper suspected that she slept in the park somewhere nearby.  
  
Miss Emma was sitting with her hands in her lap and an old, scuffed chess board set up on the table before her. She smiled invitingly at all of the tourists, but they just walked past her on their way. Miss Emma loved to play chess, and she'd become quite good at it over the years.  
  
"Are you ready to get that grin wiped off of your face, Em? You know I could always whip you at chess." A young man was walking up to Emma's table. Piper guessed him at about 19 and around 6'1". He had short, curly, sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was slightly broad- shouldered and had a light tan that suggested a recent vacation to the west coast. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt with "I 3 NY" on it. Piper sensed a very easy-going personality in this boy. Although he was a good sixy feet away, Piper heard his voice and Emma's quite clearly.  
  
"Bless my soul! Connor James, when did you get back in town?" Emma clutched one hand to her chest with surprise and delight.  
  
The boy named Connor sat down across from Miss Emma and moved forward a white pawn. "I just got back this week. I had to move into my new apartment or I would've stopped by sooner."  
  
"How was California?" Emma reached for a pawn of her own.  
  
"It was good to be home again for the summer, but I'm glad to be back in the city." Connor frowned and pushed forward another white game piece.  
  
"When do your classes start up again?" Miss Emma didn't miss a beat as she countered with a move of her own.  
  
"Two weeks. That means I've got some afternoons free until then. I think I'll reacquaint myself with the little book stores and cafés around here." Connor hesitated before pushing forward one of his bishops.  
  
Miss Emma smiled and moved forward one of her dark pieces. "That'll be nice. Will you stop by the park to see me?"  
  
Connor looked up at her in surprise. "Of course. I'm the only person who can kick your ass at chess, Em. Somebody's got to put you in your place. I can't let you start thinking you're good at it or anything."  
  
"Connor James, that California sun has played tricks with your memory. I believe that the day before you left this city back in May, I kicked your ass." Miss Emma smiled sweetly and pushed forward her king. "What happened with Rachael?"  
  
Connor sighed and moved forward a knight. "We broke up right after I returned home. She was seeing somebody else behind my back the whole time I was here. I just wish she would've told me it was over instead of sneaking around for four months. The funny thing is, I was going to break it off with her anyway. She just beat me to it."  
  
"Never did like that girl."  
  
"You never met her, Em. She lives in San Francisco."  
  
Miss Emma shook her head and pursed her lips. "Always knew there was something wrong with her head. Any girl that cheats on you, Connor, doesn't have her thoughts straight."  
  
Connor grinned at the elderly lady and pushed forward a chipped game piece. She immediately reached out and moved her king.  
  
"Checkmate." Miss Emma gazed across the small table at her opponent.  
  
Connor's eyebrows shot up into his curly blonde hair. "That's impossible. I must not be in the game today. I'm sort of nervous about starting up school again." He pulled out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and put it in her wrinkled hands.  
  
"Don't you worry any, Boy. You've got some good brains in that head of yours. You're gonna be a big man someday. Wearing one of them four piece suits and waving around a briefcase. You won't have any time to visit a dotty old lady in the park." Miss Emma pouted playfully and Connor shook his head stubbornly.  
  
"You know that will never happen, Em. You're my favorite girl in this whole city." Connor stood up from the bench and knocked over his queen in surrender. "I've got to go, but I'll be back. Same time tomorrow?"  
  
"I'll be waiting for ya'."  
  
"I'll see you then, Emma." Connor moved all his game pieces back to their starting positions so Miss Emma could welcome another challenger.  
  
"Goodbye, Connor James." The old woman smiled at him and then began to return her own pieces to the end of the board.  
  
Connor turned to leave the park and get something to eat. He happened to glance to his right and see a young lady sitting on an isolated park bench. She looked classy and uptight, but something about her struck a chord in Connor. After a moment, he realized how rude his staring must be. He continued on out of the park and crossed a few streets over to a nearby deli. The image of the young woman on the park bench stayed with him every step of the way.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Piper didn't know what it was about the boy, Connor James, but he had the strangest effect on her. She sat at her same bench for the next three afternoons and waited for him to visit Miss Emma. At first Piper thought that Connor wasn't coming today, and she was amazed to discover herself disappointed. Why was she infatuated with this human? Perhaps she should just lure him in, feed on him, and let him loose again. Maybe then her curiosity would be satiated. A small voice in Piper's mind whispered that it wasn't curiosity she felt towards this boy.  
  
All of a sudden, the object of her affections came around the jogging path and headed directly towards her. Connor had on a blue long-sleeve shirt and faded jeans today. Piper thought he looked wonderful. As he passed her on the bench, she lowered her shaded eyes to the grass. Her vampire senses told her that Connor didn't do the same. His gaze remained fixed on her until he collided with a man walking his dog.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Please excuse me." Connor's face blushed a vibrant red as he apologized profusely to the annoyed man and his Husky. His eyes flitted back over to where Piper sat, then turned towards his original destination—Emma's chess board table. He went to go join his friend for their daily game. Piper smiled at his jumbled thoughts: Who is that girl? I think I've seen her before somewhere…did I have a class with her? I can't believe I ran into that poor guy! Why can't I watch where I'm going? I have to beat Emma today, I'm out of cash. Did I remember to lock the apartment door? And amidst all his ramblings the Beatles' song 'Yellow Submarine' was playing in the back of his head. We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine….  
  
Piper found herself grinning at Connor's retreating back.  
  
An hour passed—in which the college student lost two chess games to the homeless senior citizen--- before Connor decided he was sick of chess. He moved his pieces back in place, just as usual; said goodbye to Emma and promised to return tomorrow, just as usual; and walked past Piper's bench, just as usual. Except that today was different. Connor stopped, turned, and started walking straight towards her. Piper started to panic.  
  
"Excuse me, I know this is going to sound like a total line but it's not. Have we met? I could swear that I know you from somewhere…" Connor came to a stop right in front of Piper's sued-clad body. His shins bumped her knees softly. Good going, Don Juan. At least give her room to breathe, Connor chastised himself and took a hasty step back.  
  
Piper's palms were sweating and her mouth was dry. What's the matter with me! I'm acting like a deranged stalker! I'm one of the undead, for crying out loud. I probably fed off his second cousin for breakfast. Why is he stepping back? Do I smell bad? Vampires don't get B.O…  
  
He had taken her nervous silence as rejection. "Right, well, so sorry to bother you. I guess I'll just go back into the hole from which I crawled."  
  
"No, wait. I don't think that it did." Wow, how articulate, Piper.  
  
"What?" Connor's beautiful blue eyes reflected confusion.  
  
"I don't think it sounded like a line. The truth is I seem to recognize you as well." Her vampire cheeks were actually blushing.  
  
Connor's eyes brightened. "I knew I wasn't imagining things—not that I do that. Imagine things I mean. I don't hallucinate. I have a very normal thought process." He groaned inwardly.  
  
Piper smiled shyly and picked up on his feelings of embarrassment in his mind. "Well that's good to know."  
  
"Yes, I know. It comes in handy. I'm a very resourceful thinker. Apparently, however, my communication skills suck ass." Connor gave her a bone-melting grin.  
  
Piper couldn't help but smile back.  
  
"Hey, would you want to go with me and get some coffee? We could figure out where in the world we've seen each other before, and I could have another chance to prove that I'm not mentally handicapped." Connor stared at her hopefully.  
  
Piper hesitated a full three-point-two seconds before letting him help her up from the bench. They left the park side-by-side and stayed that way until they reached a small café off of forty-second avenue. Connor's breathing was a bit labored from all of the walking, so Piper decided to pretend she was winded as well.  
  
"Finally! Nineteen blocks is a hell of a lot farther than it sounds. I'm just glad it didn't start pouring yet. Those clouds look pretty nasty. I would've gotten us a cab but I'm short on cash." Connor's eyes widened suddenly and his jaw dropped half-way open. "Oh, crap! I don't have any cash on me! I had to write Emma an I.O.U. I wonder if this place will take checks." Connor scanned all of the signs on the register counter of the café.  
  
Piper was having the time of her life and they had only been together for twenty-five minutes. She didn't mind having to buy both their coffees, she was in too good of a mood—and she didn't even like coffee! Not that drinking it would have any affect on her digestive system whatsoever. Besides, Piper never wasted any opportunity to spend Adrian's money.  
  
The two sat across from each other at a small table. Piper kept fidgeting and readjusting her jacket buttons. She took her jacket off and put it on the back of her chair. Then she folded it in half and laid it across her lap. A moment later it was back on her shoulders and unbuttoned. This all happened in the space of three minutes.  
  
Connor just kept looking at Piper with a stupid smile on his face. He picked up his coffee mug, set it down again, lifted it half-way to his mouth, and put it back on the table.  
  
"I'm Connor James, by the way. What's your name?" Connor asked attentively  
  
"Piper."  
  
"Well, Piper, I know how artificial lighting can be gruesome, but I think it's safe to take your sunglasses off in here."  
  
Piper silently wondered how oblivious she could be as to leave her sunglasses on in a dimly lit café. She removed her Oakley's, and set them down on the table top.  
  
Connor's reaction was quite humorous. Piper tried hard not to grin at his frantic thought pattern: Oh, wow! I think I'd remember eyes like those! I'd love to sketch her portrait. Maybe we haven't met before…but she seems so familiar. She's so beautiful, and classy, and…I'M STARING AGAIN!! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH ME! Connor jerked upright in his seat. Quick, ask her another question before she thinks you're a weirdo! What an interesting tattoo…We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine…  
  
"That's a weird tattoo you have there--I mean interesting!" Connor cringed at his tactlessness. "Does it mean anything?"  
  
Piper quickly put her hands in her lap and shook her head. "It's just a rose. So you go to college here in New York? What's your major?"  
  
"Well, it's just a general business degree right now. I'm thinking about owning my own business someday. That's just an aspiration of mine. I don't know what will happen when I actually get out of college. I just want to be remembered as having done something in my life. You know what I mean? I don't want my epitaph to say 'Here lies what's-his-name, we will never forget him'." Connor worried that he was boring this poor girl.  
  
Piper thought that Connor could say anything he wanted as long as she could here that sexy voice of his. Wait a minute! What's the matter with me? I'm fawning over a human! Adrian would be furious!  
  
A picture of Adrian's face flashed in Piper's mind and her vampire blood ran cold. "I should get going. It was nice meeting you, Connor." Piper grabbed her purse and stood up from the little booth.  
  
"Wait! Do you have to leave so soon? It's raining outside! Just let me get you a cab for wherever you're going."  
  
"You're broke, remember?" Piper smiled softly at his desperation to make her stay.  
  
"Well at least let me walk you there! It's cloudy and drizzly out. If anything, I can block you from the wind." Connor stood from his chair, too.  
  
"NO! I'm sure I can manage by myself, thanks." Piper pulled a scarf over her hair and walked towards the exit. She stopped and turned back to Connor for a moment. "I'll be in the park tomorrow afternoon. If you see me, you'll have to say hello."  
  
"Of course I will. We should do this again tomorrow! Goodbye, Piper!" Connor shouted towards the café's entrance. An old lady next to him glared at the noisy hoodlum.  
  
Piper pulled out her flip-phone and called her driver. Oliver was there in ten minutes with the black Roll's Royce. Piper quickly ran out from under the green and white striped awning and climbed into the backseat.  
  
Connor watched her departure outside the café window with curiosity. He would definitely be in the park tomorrow afternoon--with cash. Connor sat down in his chair again to finish the rest of his coffee. He noticed the mug across from him was completely full of cold cappuccino. 


	5. Chapter 5: The Soulmate Connection

A/N: Holy freaking cow! I'm sooo sorry it's taken so long to get this sucker up! You may throw things at me now. *cringes and awaits riot of vengeful fans*. No? Well, read on then, my friend! The best is yet to come! BTW, what does everyone think of Connor? Gimme the feedback and I'll give ya' the goods! Now, where were we? Oh yes, chapter five is rated R for a reason. I didn't want to make it NC-17, so it doesn't get graphic. Let's just say Peachy knows her euphemisms ;-)  
  
Chapter 5: The Soulmate Connection  
  
Connor was walking on air. Well, not literally of course, but he wasn't far from it. He had gone out for coffee with the most beautiful girl in New York, and she had actually said she wanted to see him again! Connor had always considered the whole 'cloud nine' expression stupid, (why not cloud ten or twenty-two?), but today he seriously thought himself on cloud forty-five. He had already had three polite lunch dates with Piper, and tonight they were going out to dinner. Connor didn't consider himself a player, but he didn't think it was wrong to expect at least a small make- out session with Piper. For Pete's sake, she hadn't even let him hold her hand yet! Yes, a little compensation is in order here. Connor thought to himself as he stood in front of his closet. It is absolutely NO FUN to be a sexually frustrated college student. Connor had been anticipating tonight since the moment he'd asked Piper to dine with him. She'd seemed hesitant at first, but then she'd agreed. He was meeting her at his favorite restaurant in Little Italy at eight. It was seven o'clock and Connor still didn't know what to wear. "Dammit! Why didn't I do laundry?" he muttered to himself. Connor was digging around in a pile of clothes on his apartment floor. He triumphantly pulled out a blue sweater from the bottom, but it had a coffee stain on it. Scowling, Connor threw it into the trash. "Now what?! Hey, do I still have that suit I wore to great grandma's funeral last year?" Thirty-five minutes and a ransacked apartment later, Connor was ready to leave. The black dress pants and sport coat over a grey sweater set off his tan and bright blue eyes. Connor double checked to make sure he had cash this time, and dashed outside to hail a taxi.  
  
****** Piper wasn't having any more success getting ready than Connor. Every dress was too dressy and every shoe didn't quite match. Besides, every elegant gown she owned was because of one of Adrian's Council parties. She didn't want such memories to taint her night with Connor. She had just settled on a plum colored, strapless dress, when Adrian's voice sounded behind her. "Going out?" His dark presence seemed to fill their master suite. Piper had asked for a room of her own in the beginning, but his icy reply had stopped that idea. 'You're mine, to do what I want with when I want to. You'll stay with me.' Time to lie your ass off, Piper. She was fiddling with her shoes when he'd entered, but stood now to look him in the eye. "Just some friends of mine from the Council parties-some of the member's wives. We were all going to go out on the town and then have a hunting party, if that's okay with you." Adrian moved from the double doorway to just in front of Piper. He grasped her chin in his left hand and looked her hard in the eye. Blank your mind! Piper thought frantically. She felt Adrian probing her thoughts, and then his mind receded. "Very well, but be home no later than midnight. Hunter is stopping by in the morning. He's coming all the way from the enclave off the East Coast. I want you presentable, if that's possible. Do you hear me, Piper? You can be sure that I'll wait up for you, Princess." He said the endearment with a sneer. Piper bit her lower lip and nodded submissively. Adrian turned and left Piper to her shoes. She sank onto their king sized, four poster bed with a lead heart. Hunter was Adrian's big boss, the guy he was always striving to please like an obedient puppy wanting a pat on the head. It made Piper sick. Hunter was coming here in the morning. Maybe seeing Connor was wrong. Maybe she could never be truly happy, never be anything but a monster. Suddenly, an image of Connor's bone melting grin flashed before Piper's mind's eye and her heart had wings. She grabbed her purse and flew down the spiral staircase to her silver Jaguar in the ten car garage.  
  
@--`--,----  
  
"I had a fantastic time tonight. Look at me! I can't stop grinning, and I don't even know what's making me so happy. I think it's just being around you." Connor's head was spinning like a dreidle in a sandstorm. It was as if his champagne had gone straight to his veins, and now he was bubbling over with giddiness. Piper was grinning right back at this handsome boy, practically a stranger. They were standing outside his apartment door. Connor was leaning his back against the door and she was standing a few feet in front of him. Dinner had been excellent; of course, both attendees would have felt that way at McDonald's as well as a fancy Italian restaurant as long as they were with each other. Connor's eyes suddenly dropped to his feet, and his heartbeat picked up as a nervous rush washed through him. Piper scanned his thoughts and her eyebrows shot up at the question lurking in his mind. "Do.do you want to come in? For coffee or something, oh wait, my coffee maker is broken! Scratch that! We could heat up some frozen ballpark franks." Piper smiled warmly at Connor's stuttering lips, and took a step closer to him. "We just ate." She gently reminded him. Connor's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, of course we did. What was I thinking?" I know what you were thinking, Piper thought wickedly. "Uh, um, well, we could.aw to hell with tact! Want to come in for sex?" Connor's face was so hopeful Piper barely stopped herself from laughing in his face. Adrian's warning about her curfew rang in Piper's ears. She took a hasty step back, and turned away from Connor. What am I doing? Considering casual human sex, that's what! She thought shamefully. Not only that, but all of the pasta from the restaurant had done nothing to help Piper's real hunger. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Connor. "I'm sorry, I can't. I have to leave, I -" Connor's face fell and he reached out a hand to grab Piper's wrist in an effort to stop her from leaving. Now Connor's veins really were carbonated! Except it was more like an electric shock. Blue sparks seemed to radiate between his hand and Piper's wrist. Piper had stopped mid-step and turned to look Connor in the eyes. She could see his thoughts just like usual - shock, excitement, hope, wonder, confusion, completion - but when Connor touched her, HE could see HER thoughts. Piper had built up her walls so tight to keep out Adrian that Connor's mind was like an intruder who had broken past her guard. She immediately recoiled. No, don't! Please don't! Let me see, I promise I won't..judge you? Fear you? Be disgusted with you?! I could never feel that way about you! Connor reassured her panicking thoughts. His hands had migrated to cup her face with his palms on her cheeks. Her slender fingers were entwined in his sandy-blonde curls. As if a force greater than either of them, outside of either of them, were pushing them together, Connor pressed his lips to Piper's. Pleasure exploded in both of them, they didn't need telepathy to know that. Connor was fumbling with his key to the apartment with his back still to the door. He was afraid to break this.this connection that was happening between them. The door whooshed open behind them, and the lip-locked couple walked straight towards Connor's messy bedroom. Connor was trying to take off his left shoe by stepping on the heel of it with his right. That done, he went to the task of removing his sportcoat. Piper had already kicked off her stilettos and was fumbling blindly with her dress zipper. They were backed up now to the edge of his double bed, Connor's back was to his open window over looking the twenty stories below. Piper's back was to the bedroom door. Neither was willing to break away from the other. Connor was becoming frustrated with his sport coat. His arms were trapped in the sleeves behind his back. He was twisting his arms around and around to no avail. Piper suddenly heard Adrian's warning in her mind again. She didn't want to imagine the consequences these actions were going to bring her. Then Connor's tongue was stroking the roof of her mouth and those worries flew out the window - along with Connor's black sport coat. 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Alright, I am reluctantly handing over chapter six. I wasn't going to because not enough people were reviewing my story, but I decided to give you another chance. I have to get five more reviews before you can have chapter seven-seems fair to me. I'm tired of people telling me they've read it and it's good and none of them wrote me a review. Oh, I've also started putting everyone's thoughts in between ** because when I upload chapters you can't tell who's thinking what. Ahem, now that that's off my chest.read and enjoy! It only gets better from here!  
  
WARNING: this story is R for a reason. Be prepared for some heavy angst in future chapters. I'm just letting you know now that there are some not- so-pretty parts coming (i.e. rape, abuse, language). Piper IS being held against her will, People. Otherwise, continue at your leisure!  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Piper inhaled the scent of Connor's pillow and gave a contented sigh. For the first time since her mother died, she was truly happy. She extended her awareness throughout the apartment. Connor was up early. Piper's senses told her he was in the kitchen. Although she didn't fully understand what had happened between them last night, she knew it was amazing. How had he been able to invade her mind like that? Even now the connection hummed between them like a living cord. It was more than telepathy. Adrian could communicate mentally with her, but he was never inside of her mind! Piper felt complete, whole in Connor's arms. Now she knew that the infatuation she'd had for Adrian so long ago was nothing compared to what she felt for Connor. Piper was in love. "Here's..how it goes..you and me...up and down, but baby this time we'll.get it right..worth the fight." Connor's voice drifted to the bedroom. Piper opened her eyes and smiled. She sat up and tried to find some kind of robe to cover herself. A pain inside made her gasp, but it went away after a moment. She was getting hungry. After digging through the disastrous bedroom, she pulled on a pair of mesh shorts and a wife-beater. Piper tip-toed out of the messy bedroom and over to the entryway of the small kitchen. The immortal could barely keep her laughter in check. Connor was trying to make them breakfast. His cooking wasn't the funniest part, although those pancakes looked a little over done. He had the radio on playing "Escape" by Enrique Iglesias and was currently using the pancake- flipper as a microphone. "If you feeeeeel liiiiike leeeaaavin'. I'm not gonna make you stay! But sooooooon you'll be fiiiiindin', you can run you can hide but you can't escape my looooove!!!" Connor was dancing around the kitchen in his boxers and trying his best to imitate Enrique Iglesias' voice. Piper bit her lip to keep from laughing. She didn't want to interrupt just yet; watching him was too much fun. She leaned against the door frame and waited for him to notice her. All of a sudden he went way up into his head voice to sing the bridge of the song. "You can ruuuuuuuuu-uh-uuuuun! You can ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-uh- uuuuuuun!" Connor's hips were gyrating and his head was bobbing in time with the music. He twirled completely around and stopped face to face with his admiring audience. "I have to admit that on my Favorite Things to Wake Up to in the Morning List, this has got to be in the top three!" Piper gave Connor a smirk and he grinned. He looked so happy that she could have sworn he was glowing. Little did she know, Connor was looking back at her smiling face and thinking the exact same of her. "I was singing your praises." He explained simply. " 'Escape' ? That's comforting." Piper quirked an eyebrow. She abruptly turned to the burnt pancakes. "You're going to burn this building down." Shock flew across Connor's face and he rushed over to turn the stove off, while smoke started to billow up from the skillet. Connor rushed the blackened breakfast, skillet and all, over to the counter and dumped them in the sink. Piper stood by and watched his panic with a half-smile on her face. "It's possible that you could pass as an Enrique, but you're definitely no George Foreman." "I've chosen to take that as a compliment. Therefore, the correct response to that remark would be: 'thank you, sweetheart!'" Connor walked over to Piper and placed his hands on the mesh shorts covering her hips. His forehead dropped down close to hers and their noses were almost touching. "You know, I had this really strange dream last night. You're not going to believe how funny this is. I was inside your head, like looking at your thoughts, and you had the worst past. You were so unhappy. It makes me depressed just thinking about it." Connor frowned for a moment. "How is this funny?" Her veins were beginning to burn with bloodlust. Connor's neck was so strong and firm. "Let me finish. Then I saw in your head that you were - this is the funny part - a vampire! Is that weird or what? No more wine for me before bed." Connor was grinning and laughing, until he saw the look of distress on Piper's face. She was absolutely crestfallen. "What's the matter? You don't think it's funny?" Connor tried to look Piper in the eyes, but she pushed him away and averted her gaze from his face. **What was I doing? I actually considered feeding off of Connor!** Her mind shouted at her. **He's not safe around me, no human is.** Piper's thoughts were flying through her head in a frenzy. **I don't want to put him in danger! If Adrian found out about us he'd do worse than kill Connor. Should I tell him the truth about what I am? I don't want to lie. He's my soulmate.** The word sent a tingling sensation through her undead heart. "Hello? Are you feeling okay, Piper? Is it the smoke from the pancakes? I'll open a window." Connor crossed the small kitchen and pulled the small window pane up a few inches. Piper was torn between what to do or say next. The burning was increasing and so was her desperation. She wanted, no needed, to tell Connor the truth. "Is that better? I'm sorry about making such a mess with breakfast. I'm starved. Do you want to get dressed really quick and head out for something to eat? I know this great bakery down the street. Awesome bagels." Connor picked up the spatula-microphone off the counter and set it in the sink. In that instant Piper's mind was made up. Connor should love her for who and what she was, or not at all. Unfortunately, she knew he wouldn't want anything to do with her once he knew the truth. He was going to hate her. "No, I don't want to go to the bakery." Piper said slowly, staring at the chipped blue tile floor. "You're not hungry?" Piper swallowed the blockade in her throat. "I am hungry, but not for bagels. Not for any kind of human food." Her eyes slowly came up to meet Connor's. His face was nervously confused, as if he wasn't sure whether to laugh or be concerned. "What do you mean?" "Connor, the dream that you had last night wasn't a dream. You were inside my mind and I was inside of yours." "That's not possible." His face was a mask of gravity. "There's this connection between us. It's called the Soulmate Principle. I never paid much attention to it before, but now I know that it's true. We're soulmates, Connor." Connor gave her a tentative smile. "Well, that's a sweet way of putting it. I have to admit that I've never felt this strongly this quickly for any other person before." Piper shook her head and tears came to her eyes. "No, you don't understand. Here, touch me." Connor slowly stretched out his left hand and stroked the side of her face. Sparks exploded not only where their flesh met, but in their minds as well. **It wasn't a dream.** Connor's thoughts were a sort of stunned wonder. **We're meant to be together. No one else is right for me but you.** Piper sent the loving thought as a caress to his mind. Connor's thoughts were strong, solid colors of blue, green, red, and yellow. He had led such a peaceful, satisfying life. A loving family, a solid education, and a life full of experiences. Piper's mind was a haven of pain in comparison. Her mother's death, the hurt of her father's hasty remarriage, and a childhood of neglect from a cold stepmother haunted her memories. **There's so much sorrow and pain.** Connor's thoughts in her mind were sad and compassionate instead of pitying. He went through her bad memories one by one and kissed away the hurt. It was as though Connor were sharing not only her memories, but the pain of them as well. Piper was so caught up in the feelings of love and healing, that she forgot to keep her guard up against her most recent memories of unhappiness - Adrian. Connor looked at the face of her warden with curiosity at first. **Who is this?** He carefully dug deeper into her psyche until he found the night she'd met Adrian. The night she'd become the monster she was. **No! ** Piper's voice called out in desperation to his thoughts, but it was too late. Connor saw everything. The little boy that Piper had murdered in her frenzy to feed upon waking from death. Adrian locking her inside the mansion and mocking her despair. Adrian branding her right wrist with the symbol of her new race. Adrian forcing her to love him and be his willing concubine. Piper's hope dying, her final acceptance of the life she was compelled to live. Piper's visits into the city to escape her life and the gradual freedoms Adrian gave her. The park where she often went to watch an old woman beat the tourists at chess. The day she saw Connor sit down at Miss Emma's table. It was the day her life changed irrevocably forever. Back in the small apartment kitchen, Connor yanked his hand back from Piper's face. His breathing was labored and there was sweat on his brow. "You.you're.Adrian, is that his name? He turned you into---" Connor made a sweeping gesture with his hand. "--- a vampire, yes. Everything you saw is true. Your girlfriend is one of the undead. Congratulations!" Piper bit her lip to keep from bursting into tears. A few escaped anyway and made paths down her cheeks. She bit so hard that blood welled up from her bottom lip. Almost instantaneously her fangs lengthened in hunger. Connor's eyes were fixated on her canines. He was slowly backing away from her towards the counter. It was a subconscious effort to protect himself, one that Piper doubted he even knew he was doing. The prey trying to get away from the hunter. Her heart felt like sandpaper as it beat inside her chest. "I'll leave now." She spoke softly with her heart in her eyes. "Wait." Connor hesitantly stepped forward and reached out a hand to her. "Don't go. Whatever you are, you're still my soulmate now and forever. I love you, Piper, don't leave." That was all the encouragement she needed to throw herself into his awaiting embrace. The tears flowed freely onto his chest, with her head tucked under his chin. "I'm so sorry, Connor, I'm so sorry." Piper chanted softly into his warm chest. He stroked her glorious blonde hair and tried to control his raging emotions. Fear, shock, love, and worry warred in his mind. Piper's thoughts were flowing through him as well. She was exhausted, bursting with love for him, and...hungry. Connor sensed the growing emotion inside of her. Piper felt the need to feed consuming her thoughts. She had to get out of there while she still could. Her hands quickly pushed against Connor's chest and she stumbled back. "I have to leave. I'm sorry, Connor. I have to feed." "Off of some poor, unsuspecting person in the street?" Piper winced from the disdain laced in his voice. "What would you have me do?" Connor slowly walked right up to her and put her hands on his broad shoulders. "Find a willing victim." "Connor, I could never ---" "Shhh, I want you to. I want to help you. Please let me." Piper knew it was futile to resist him when she was so close to breakdown. She kissed the side of his neck and then quickly punctured his tan skin. Connor's indrawn breath didn't slow Piper down. She hastily sucked at his life to fulfill her own. She could breathe again. Piper stepped back and caught Connor before he slid to the floor. He had a dazed expression on his face. She carried him to his bedroom and laid him across the forest green sheets. The same sheets they'd both been naked under mere hours before. Piper sat down on the bed next to Connor and stroked his hair. "Thank you." He smiled wanly at her and squeezed the hand in her lap. "Tell me about your world." Piper hesitated, knowing that once Connor knew everything his life would be in grave danger. Would she go that far to let him know the truth? "It's called the Night World." Piper began slowly and continued to run her fingers through his curly hair. 


	7. the arrival

**Hey, Everybody Finally I have chapter 8 for you. I'm sorry it took me so long. I really don't have a good enough excuse. In my semi-defense, though, I've been very busy lately and inspiration was a long time in coming. Anyway, thanks for being so patient. This one isn't very long, but I promise to write more within the next couple of weeks.**

~ Chapter Eight ~

Thierry stared at the enigma who was slowly starting to unravel before him.  Piper had spoken of her past with a stoic and indifferent expression. That is, until she mentioned Connor. Her face never changed its cold appearance, but her eyes were softly full of tears. The light from one of Hannah's desk lamps reflected only sorrow from Piper's green stare.

She swallowed and blinked once before continuing. "I told him everything. In ten minutes I exposed the one secret that had been ingrained in me for months as a surreptitious lifestyle. My very life depended on such silence. I knew, though, that I had to reveal everything to Connor. He was my soulmate and my first love. There could be no more secrets."

She connected her gaze with Thierry's compassionate eyes as if looking for consent. He nodded slightly and she sighed under her breath. "I gathered my things and left as quickly as possible. Connor was still shaken up and needed time to rest.  That was not the reason for my hasty departure, however. I'd just realized that it was long past dawn, and Adrian had been expecting me home for hours. I prayed that Hunter hadn't reached the mansion yet. Do you suppose creatures like us are allowed to pray? I've often wondered that myself. In any case, if I arrived late, Adrian would appear as if he had no control over his own subject. Hunter would look down on him with distaste. Then Adrian would take out his displeasure on me later that night. It had happened too many times before.

"As I sped my Jaguar as much as you can speed on the streets of Manhattan, I considered my situation with Connor. I knew that Adrian could never find out about my soulmate's existence. It was time for one of the biggest challenges of my life – building up walls strong enough to keep out Adrian. He was far stronger than I, both physically and mentally. I decided to try and blank my mind instead. If Adrian encountered my mental shields he'd know that I had something to hide, but if I seemed forgetful instead of being otherwise engaged he might let me off with a small beating.

"This gave me only a little comfort as the mansion came into view. The black iris symbol on both of the iron gates seemed to warn visitors away, but the house itself was breathtaking. I'd always thought that it was more pleasant than the actual inhabitants. It was a deep brick red with white columns in front. Being located twenty minutes outside of the city allowed for a garden of sorts and an upper story balcony. I don't know how many nights after my changing I sat out on that stone terrace wishing for death and deliverance from the hell I'd been thrown into. I came down the drive with my head full of those memories, but the small calmness that the house always brought me quickly vanished. My plans for deceiving Adrian crumbled underneath the weight of my panic as I spotted a red Porsche in front of the garage. It was absolutely spotless and the license plate said "biteme". I was too late." Piper had been staring at her lap while recounting the drive home, but her gaze rose firmly to meet Thierry's own. "Hunter had arrived."


	8. Chapter 8: Punishment

A/N: I am so sorry that it's taken so long for 8, everyone. I went out of the country for Spring Break, and I had prom and show choir competitions. I promise to have nine up by May 1. Then there's graduation and planning to do, so I'm not sure how soon 10 will come. Thank you for the reviews and keep them coming. You guys are my encouragement. ;-)

Chapter 8: Punishment

Piper took a deep breath before opening the double doors to Adrian's mansion.  She knew what was coming. Stiffening her spine with resolution, she calmly pushed open the right door and stepped inside the entrance.  No one was there. She let out her breath in a rush and closed the door behind her. Oliver, her chauffeur, came from the kitchens.

"Adrian and Mr. Hunter are in the conference hall, Miss. I'd suggest you wait until he's calmed down before approaching him." The middle-aged werewolf gave her sympathetic eyes. Oliver had always been kind to her.

"Why delay the inevitable, Olly? I'll see him now." Piper touched the man's shoulder and turned down the hallway to her right. She could hear Hunter's deep voice coming from the other side of a solid oak door.

*As long as he doesn't find out about Connor, it doesn't matter what Adrian does to me. Connor is what's important.*

With that in mind, she knocked softly.

"Enter." Adrian's full voice called coldly.

Piper walked into the conference hall and quietly shut the door.

Hunter's eyebrows narrowed with disdain and he grimaced. "I see that your lovely little pet has finally graced us with her presence. It's a shame that you can't even control a pathetic made-vampire, Adrian. How can I expect you to be my heir?"

Adrian violently stood up from his chair at the long table. "It was a small error on my part, Hunter. It won't happen again. It seems as though I've been lied to. I spoke with several of the elders' wives, none of whom knew anything of a hunting party." His voice was verging on yelling.

Hunter ran his ever-shifting eyes up and down Piper's rumpled dress and messy hair. "It seems to me that she found something more interesting to do than hunting."

Adrian's face turned livid at this and he strode across the room to stand directly in front of Piper.

"Piper would never defy me like that, would you? WOULD YOU?!" Adrian slapped her across the face before she could get out an answer. Piper had learned the hard way that it was best not to speak during one of his tirades.

"I'll leave you to handle this situation on your own. But, Adrian?" Hunter called in a deadly voice. "See to it that this inconvenience doesn't happen again." With that, Hunter Redfern left the hall.

Piper's cheek was stinging but she controlled the urge to rub her face.

"I want to know exactly where you were and what you were doing, and if you don't tell me I'll force the answers out of your slut mouth!" Adrian grabbed her upper arms and shook her.

"I went dancing at the Black Iris and fed off of a few college boys. It was nothing!" Piper tried to step back from him, but he came closer.

"DON"T LIE TO ME! You stupid bitch! Do you think that I don't know? That I'm too stupid to figure it out?!" Adrian threw her against the wall and Piper leaned against it.

"I'm not lying, Adrian." Tears sprang to her eyes.

Adrian's eyes burned with fury. His voice dropped to a deadly calm. "You're seeing someone. You're blocking me too much for a name, but he lives in the city. Tell me it's just a fling, Piper. Tell me that it's nothing." He took another step closer to her trembling body.

"It's nothing -- just a stupid fling."

"You filthy whore. You don't need anyone but me. I'm everything to you." He grabbed Piper's neck with his left hand and pressed his lips right against her ear. "It ends right now."

Piper nodded slowly and a tear ran down her cheek. He slowly released her and took a step back.

"Do I have to start locking you up again? Is that what you want? Was he worth it Piper? Was he a good fuck? Tell me that he was worth it!"

Piper knew there was no way she could answer this without being struck.

Adrian was even more angered by her silence. He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her to the floor. Ripping off her evening dress, he snarled into her face. "Am I not good enough for you? Am I so bad that you have to lay with vermin? We'll fix that."

Piper closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry. She wasn't really there. That wasn't her on the rough carpet of the conference hall. She was back in the city in Connor's apartment. That's where she had left her heart. Adrian could do what he wanted to her body, but he would never have her soul. That belonged to Connor.

* * * * *

A/N: It got a little graphic there, guys. I'm telling you now that it only gets worse. Other than that, what did you think? If you liked it or have constructive comments, review it or email me at PeachGoddess63@aol.com  


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Am I good or what?! This has got to be the quickest update I've ever done! Go productive me! Thanks for all of the comments everybody! And for those of you that didn't comment…you will die slow, horrible deaths. Violent? Why, yes, yes I am **;-P**

Chapter 9

Thierry realized he was gritting his teeth with anger and tried to relax. *How could Piper have survived living with that bastard Adrian? She's much stronger than I've given her credit for.*

"Hunter left a few days after he came and so did the tension in the household. Adrian's suspicions remained, though. I didn't leave the mansion for the rest of that week. He had softened towards me when Hunter left and even justified his tirade by saying that he knew what was best for me." Piper shook her head in disgust. "I thought that if I waited a while, he would ignore me and get buried in his work again. I'd been thinking a lot about Connor, but it wasn't safe to even do that with Adrian nearby. I knew that I had to stop seeing him. It hurt so much to have reached that decision, but I knew it would hurt more if Adrian found him."

There was a knock on the office door. Piper and Thierry had been so involved in what they were doing that they hadn't sensed anyone outside. Hannah entered with a small tray of drinks.

"You two have been cooped up in here for so long that I thought you might like something. I brought lemonade, but feel free to ask for something else." The beautiful girl smiled and set the tray down on her desk in front of Thierry.

Piper was looking at her birthmark. She'd glanced at it before, but hadn't paid much attention. Hannah noticed her scrutiny and raised a hand to the rosy smudge.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. How awful of me! Thank you for the drinks." Piper rushed an apology for her rudeness.

"It's alright. I'm used to people looking at my face. I'm not ashamed of the mark. It's a symbol of Thierry's love for me." Hannah turned soft eyes on the blonde man behind her desk. He smiled back warmly.

Piper felt a prick on her heart and looked down at the tattoo on her wrist.*I'm a terrible person. I'm jealous of people who I barely know and have been nothing but kind to me.*

"Let me know if you need anything else. Sorry to have interrupted." Hannah quietly shut the door behind her.

"You two look very happy together." Piper said softly.

"Thank you, we are." Thierry replied just as soft. "Would you like to continue or take a break?"

"Maybe we should take a short break. Everything that's coming up is very difficult to handle." Piper's voice shook and she stood up. "I think I'll go feed."

Thierry stood up as well. "You may only drink from a willing donor or animal on my property. I'm sorry, but those are my rules."

Piper nodded. "Can I go to the forest that Ash and I went to?"

He nodded. "Whenever you're ready to tell me, I'm ready to listen."

Piper wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. "It's not a question of being ready; it's whether or not I can."

She stepped out into the corridor and headed for the back entrance of the mansion.

"Hey." Ash was standing at the top of the staircase.

"Hey." Piper stopped and waited for him to come down.

"Going to hunt?"

She nodded.

"Can I come?"

She nodded again.

"Good! You know, I'm glad that you're not a chatterbox because that gives me the chance to listen to myself talk. Don't you think I have a sexy voice?" His eyes were glinting with humor, and Piper couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, Ash, you have a sexy voice." Piper rolled her eyes and continued on through the house. Ash fell into step beside her.

"Seriously, on a scale from one to ten of Sexy Voices I've got to be at least an eight."

"At least." Piper said with heavy sarcasm. Her face suddenly got serious and she turned to look him in the eye. "Thanks for not hounding me with questions. You're trying to cheer me up and I appreciate it."

Ash's smile immediately fell and he stopped mid-stride. "Does this mean you don't really think I have a sexy voice?"

Piper smiled and pushed open the back door. "Of course you have a sexy voice. I just don't know if it's worthy of an 8 on the Sexy Voice Scale."

Ash gasped indignantly. "Not an 8?! You're insane, woman! Absolutely insane! But that's why I like you!"

"I don't know why I like you, Ash. Consider yourself one lucky bastard."

"I know exactly who my father is, thank you very much. I just choose not to communicate with him very often."

Piper was extremely grateful for the friendly banter between them. She needed something to take her mind off of all the horrible memories. Ash was such a decent person, and Piper didn't know very many of those. *Mary-Lynnette better know how lucky she is.*

They were approaching the edge of the trees now, and Ash put a cool hand on Piper's elbow. "I have a confession to make. I'm not bombarding you with questions because I was listening to the both of you in the next room." His face flushed with embarrassment.

Piper's eyebrows rose, but she realized that she wasn't angry. A part of her wanted her first friend here to know the truth.

"It's okay. I'm glad that you know. It makes things easier somehow."

Ash nodded and started into the forest.

"Ash?" He turned at her hesitant call. "I want you to come with me back to Hannah's study. You don't have to hide to know my past. I want to tell you. You-" she paused for a second before continuing. "--you're my friend."

Ash didn't smile at her childish remark or nod his head. He just looked into Piper's somber green eyes and said "You're mine, too." He knew that there was no need for an elaborate reply or emotional embracing. Piper was baring her heart, and he finally got to see inside of her. Past the ice princess and rigid remarks was a little girl who just wanted to be loved.

Piper smiled at him and looked into the forest. "I'm starving. First one to catch the biggest animal wins."

Ash grinned back at her. "You're going down, sweetheart! I was hunting when you were learning the alphabet."

The challenge was on. Piper and Ash stealthily took off in separate directions of the small woods.  Piper ran through the trees with the moon shining down on the path in front of her and realized that for the first time in eight months, she was at peace.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Okay, the delay wasn't my fault this time (that's a first)! My computer has been in pieces on the office floor for a month now. SO until my dad fixes it, or lets someone else fix it, I won't be able to update. I'm writing ten on my friend's computer (thank you Katy!). So this will have to suffice for a while. Again, sorry but I couldn't help it. Plus, I'm all gradgeated now so I have free time in the summer! Woo free time outside of work! Don't worry, this chapter is nice and long.angst ahoy!  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Piper shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her breathing was getting shaky. She glanced sideways at Ash. He was sitting in the plush, pink chair on her left. His vibrant eyes a deep brown. He nodded slightly, Piper thought as a sign of encouragement. She turned her gaze back to the man sitting in front of her. Four hours ago this so-called Lord of the Night World had been a complete stranger to her, everyone here had. Now she was going to relive a hell that she had been trying desperately to forget.  
  
Thierry was waiting patiently for Piper to proceed. He knew that she would only continue when she was ready.  
  
Piper's spine visibly stiffened with resolve. She sat up stick straight in her seat and put her arms firmly on the pink fabric. Her tongue swept nervously over her upper lip before she began to speak again.  
  
"I spent days inside of the bedchambers just thinking. I only left when Adrian called me down for dinner. I didn't want to risk making him angry again. I knew what I had to do, but --" she paused for just a second before continuing, "I remember it clearly." Piper's eyes seemed to stare past Thierry, past the wallpaper of Hannah's study. She was looking inside herself.  
  
"I had been tearing myself up inside for days over what to do, when I finally reached a decision. I was sitting out on the balcony from the bedroom. The sun had set only a few minutes before, and I was curled up on a reclining lawn chair. Suddenly, I sat up and threw my feet over the edge of the chair. I couldn't stand to be without Connor, but I couldn't endanger his life by sneaking out to see him. I had to tell him that we couldn't see each other again.ever." Piper's lower lip started to tremble.  
  
"I didn't want to do that to Connor, to myself. I realized that if I couldn't live with Connor I didn't want to live at all. I refused to spend forever in Adrian's prison. I went over to my vanity on the wall adjacent to the master closet. In the bottom drawer underneath hairbrushes, nail polish, and other frustratingly mundane beauty products was a stake. I had gotten hold of it the first few weeks after Adrian changed me. I had wanted to kill myself then, but was too scared to do it. I wasn't afraid anymore. I shoved the stake into my left boot, and grabbed my black jacket from the closet. I had to see Connor right away. I didn't want to chance getting stopped downstairs, so I dropped down from the second-story balcony onto the soft grass outside the window to the kitchens. I doubted Adrian would be near there. I hurried around to the side of the house and jumped the fence before Adrian's beloved Dobermans could come around to investigate.  
  
'Obviously I couldn't take any of the cars from the garage. I just ran the whole way into the city, or as much as you can run in downtown Manhattan. I stopped outside his apartment building to steel my nerves. I knew that if I stopped to second-guess myself, I'd never go up. I didn't have to worry about him not being home, either. I could feel him. He was upstairs writing a paper. I buzzed his name on the intercom and waited with my heart in my throat. I can still remember how happy he was to see me.."  
  
* * * Connor's grin greeted her at his scuffed apartment door. He had on a Yankees shirt and faded jeans. "Hey, I'm so glad that you stopped by! I made you something and I really want you to tell me what you think. I worked on it all night, hence the rushed ethics paper." He gestured towards his laptop on the coffee table and went into his bedroom.  
  
Piper wrapped her arms around herself and stood in the middle of the messy living room. She ran her tongue over her upper lip, gearing herself up to crush the only person she loved.  
  
Connor came back into the living room holding some sort of notebook in his hand. Piper could feel his boyish enthusiasm overwhelming her. He handed her the book, a sketchbook, and she relaxed a little.  
  
It was her.naked. Well, not entirely naked. She was lying on her back underneath some sheets, his sheets. They covered her while she slept and one hand was twisted up onto the pillow next to her face. Piper felt tears come to her eyes. "Connor, you.you sketched this?"  
  
He reached out a hand and pushed a strand of her hair behind her left ear. "I used to sketch a lot in high school. In fact, I was going to be an art major for a while. What do you think?" He moved to stand right by her side, judging her face for an answer.  
  
Piper's eyes ran over the gentle details of the picture. Her eyelashes were dark crescents on her cheeks. Her lips were slightly parted, and her hair was fanned out on the pillow behind her. Her wrist was smooth and slightly bent towards her face. Piper frowned at looked up at Connor.  
  
"Where's my tattoo?" She asked softly.  
  
"Oh, well.." His eyes dropped from hers to the sketch and came back up. "I didn't draw your tattoo. I could feel how you felt about it the other night. It makes you ashamed and unhappy. So I didn't put it in the picture."  
  
"Connor, the tattoo is part of who I am. I'm a vampire. You can't just choose to ignore that." Piper's eyes stared into his face. "That's why you didn't draw it. You can't accept it." Piper handed him back the sketchbook.  
  
"No, Piper, why are you overreacting like this? It's a stupid rose. It doesn't matter."  
  
"Yes it does! That stupid rose means that I'm an undead, unholy, blood- sucking monster! That's why we can't be together! Connor, we can't see each other. Not ever. We just---can't." Piper finished lamely as her anger dissipated.  
  
Connor frowned and his eyebrows narrowed. "Because of the stupid sketch? Is that it?" He tossed the sketchbook onto the loveseat. He went over to Piper and wrapped his arms around her. "I don't care about the tattoo, or the fact that you are a little bit undead. You know what they say about every rose having it's thorn" He said softly into her hair.  
  
Piper pushed away from him and stepped back. "Yes, but this rose has fangs. I mean it, not ever again. It's dangerous. We, I -- I don't want to hurt you." Her voice broke. He reached out to touch her face but she flinched back.  
  
"Why are you doing this? You won't hurt me. Piper, I know what you are and I don't care. I love you and I want to be with you." His voice softened dramatically and his heart filled his eyes. "You know I can't be without you."  
  
Piper's breathing quickened and her eyes became blinded by tears. She pushed the heels of her palms against them in a futile attempt to stop the burning tears on her cheeks. "Connor, we can't. We have to stop. I don't want him to hurt you. You're all that matters to me. I'll die if he finds you." Her sentences were broken by sobs.  
  
Connor frowned fiercely and put his hands on her quivering shoulders. "He who? Has someone been threatening you? Sweetheart, just tell me what's wrong and we'll fix it together."  
  
Piper's spine straightened into a lance and she desperately clutched at Connor. Oh, how beautiful he smelled. How good it felt to touch him. All she needed was to be held and this would all go away.  
  
Except that it wouldn't. Adrian would still be there when she pulled back. She'd still be wanted by the Night World Council for telling a human everything. Connor would still be in danger. Nothing could make this go away. The only thing she could do was to walk away. If she went back to the way everything was before, then all of this would go away.  
  
*I don't want it to go away.* Piper thought fiercely. *I don't want to go back to being trapped in Adrian's private hell. I want to be here, with him. This boy who I barely know, but love more than anything or anyone I've ever known. My soulmate.*  
  
Piper turned her face up to Connor's for a sweet, deep kiss. His emotions were rushing through her - protectiveness, concern, worry, and above all love. He slowly moved his sculpted lips over her tear-stained cheeks to kiss away her sorrow.  
  
"I love you, Connor. Remember that, even if you can't stand to look at me for leaving you. I love you.so much." Piper kissed him quickly on the lips for the last time. She turned and headed for his apartment door.  
  
"Piper." Connor's voice broke, and she could hear his suppressed tears. "Wait-"  
  
But Piper couldn't wait. She couldn't stop. She had to keep going and never look back. She briskly walked to the stairwell at the end of the hall. She flew down the steps and out the side door of the building. As she walked her pace quickened, and before long she was running and crying at the same time. She stumbled once or twice and bumped into an elderly couple on the sidewalk, but she just kept running. She had to get back to Adrian's, and away from Connor's haunted expression. After miles of perpetual sprinting, she slowed and collapsed against the stone wall at the edge of Adrian's property. She pressed her face into the dirty bricks and wept. Piper's knees folded underneath her and she slid down onto the damp ground. She couldn't take this. She was dying instead without Connor already. Piper felt inside her boot for the stake. Yes, it was still there. She should just do it now. The midnight patrol 'wolf would find her body and tell Adrian. Piper grimaced at the look that would be on his face. He wouldn't care that she'd done it. He'd probably be upset about the blood stain she'd leave on his pavement. She could just picture him saying "she had been such a good girl all these months. What a pity. We'll have to go into Manhattan tomorrow night and get me a new one".  
  
Loud, insistent barking erupted from inside the wall. Shit. They had found her.  
  
Connor was hyperventilating. He was running faster than he thought possible, but his breathing was suffering. Oh, why had he quit the track team in ninth grade? His leg muscles burned and his lungs screamed for more oxygen, but he couldn't' stop. He couldn't even slow down. He had to catch Piper. He knew as soon as she had walked out his door that he couldn't just let her go. No matter what she said. He'd rather die than be without her.  
  
He had been following her for some time now. He couldn't see her up ahead anymore -- her vampire speed had carried her out of his sight - but he could feel her. Her turbulent emotions were crashing over him through their soulmate connection. He could feel her torment and it bruised his heart. Why had she done this? He knew that there had to be a reason. It had to do with that man. He had gotten flashes inside of Piper's mind when they had slept together the other night. Her thoughts were so guarded that it was only a glimpse, but Connor had seen a man with dark hair. He also felt her feelings toward him. Hatred. Unabashed disgust and loathing for this person, whoever he was. Connor had a feeling that this all involved that man somehow. Did he not want Connor and Piper together? Piper had mentioned someone wanting to hurt the both of them. Like hell he would. Not while Connor was around to protect her. He wouldn't let anything happen to Piper.  
  
He slowed and put his hands on his knees. There was a long driveway up ahead. It came up to iron gates in a high, brick wall. Connor could see the top of a huge house behind it. Did Piper live here? He could feel her inside, except that she was full of fear now. Connor tried to catch his breath and creep down to the bushes and trees near the gates. He could see a group of people standing in the yard, one of them Piper. He wished he could hear what was being said.  
  
Piper scrambled to her feet, but it was too late. Two 'wolves and a 'shifter, Adrian's hired muscle, were opening up the gates about a hundred feet down the wall. When they saw that it was Piper, they smirked.  
  
"Well, what do we have here?" the dark-skinned 'shifter asked to no one in particular. Piper recognized him as one of the nightshift guards that Adrian had just hired a few weeks ago. Added protection for Hunter's visit, he'd said.  
  
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here so late? Adrian isn't going to be very happy." He grabbed Piper's upper arm and squeezed painfully.  
  
"I don't give a fuck about Adrian's happiness. He never did about mine." Her chin rose defiantly and she smacked his hand away. The dogs continued barking from the gates.  
  
"Hey, now, watch your mouth, Baby. We'll just have to drag you inside and let Adrian decide what to do with you." He jerked his head towards the two werewolf guys and they stepped up to surround Piper.  
  
"Oh, quit with the pathetic intimidation tactics. I'm going on my own." She strode forward and through the gates, wiping at her tears as she went. She didn't want to show weakness in front of Adrian. One of the 'wolves shouted at the Dobermans to shut up. He muttered about how they shouldn't be freaking out over Piper.  
  
Piper couldn't' stand the triumphant look one of the 'wolves was giving her. "Don't look so pleased with yourself, Rover. Adrian might praise you for bringing me in, but he'll beat the hell out of you for letting me escape in the first place."  
  
The arrogance quickly flew off of his face and he scowled at Piper the rest of the way to the front doors.  
  
Surprisingly enough, Adrian met them at the entrance. One look at his face and Piper paled. This was going to be very bad.  
  
"We found her outside the main gate, sitting on the edge of the drive." The shapeshifter shoved her forward and onto the front steps.  
  
Adrian towered over her from the landing. His eyes were burning pools of black silk. Piper's chin trembled, but she held her ground.  
  
"I've done as you told. It's over." She looked him straight in the eyes.  
  
He showed no reaction to her announcement. He did come down the steps toward her, however. Very slowly, never breaking eye contact.  
  
Without saying a word, Adrian slapped Piper so hard across the face that she fell to the ground.  
  
The boys snickered. Piper pressed a hand to her throbbing face. Adrian wasn't finished yet.  
  
"Piper, I really don't understand you." He stood directly in front of her, waiting for her to stand.  
  
She slowly accommodated him.  
  
"Haven't I given you everything? You have the finest clothes, the fastest cars, people to wait on your every call." He grabbed her right wrist and twisted it behind her back until her back was against his chest. "I have provided everything you could ever want, and this is what you do to me. You humiliate me in front of my elder, lie to me, defy explicit orders, and insult me by having an affair with vermin. I'm just not sure what to do with you. You've become more of a nuisance than anything else, and you know what I do with nuisances, Piper?" He leaned in next to her ear and spoke in a whisper. "I get rid of them."  
  
Piper's wrist snapped and she cried out in pain. Adrian shoved her forward and onto the pavement. She cradled her broken wrist and glared at him through a curtain of her hair.  
  
"Get your fucking hands off of my soulmate!!" Connor's shout rang through the entire yard. He had run through the gates that had been left open and now stood just inside the wall. His face was flushed beet red and his breathing was labored.  
  
Adrian's left eyebrow shot up in reaction to this declaration. The two werewolves and shapeshifter were on Connor in a split second. They had his arms behind his back and were dragging him forward to speak to Adrian.  
  
Piper quickly stood up and called out to him. "Connor, no.". Despair was written all over her face.  
  
"Well, well, well. What a happy little gathering this is. We were having fun on our own, Connor, but the more the merrier." Adrian spat out the human's name as if it were a foul taste in his mouth.  
  
Adrian circled Connor, looking him up and down. "This is what you left me for, Piper? A pathetic little human boy?"  
  
"We're soulmates, Adrian. It was beyond both of our control. We're meant to be together." Piper said firmly.  
  
"Is that so?" Adrian's eyes flashed.  
  
"Just let him go. I'll stay and I'll do anything you ask, Adrian. I promise I'll be a perfect angel and do everything you want. Please, just let him go." Piper had turned to her captor to plead for Connor's life.  
  
Adrian's indifferent expression turned to fury. "An unfaithful bitch is no angel, but I can fix this soulmate dilemma. And you will do everything I ask, Piper. You will obey my every wish and you'll adore me. As for Connor, well, he won't be here to witness your submission." Adrian snapped his fingers and the three Night World thugs began beating Connor.  
  
At first they just punched him. That was enough to drive Connor to his knees. A werewolf's fist was worse than any brass knuckles could be. They were hitting him repeatedly now. Kicking blows to his stomach and kidneys. Trying to do as much internal damage as possible.  
  
And Piper was screaming. Ear-splitting screams that rang through the night like a banshee's call. Adrian had grabbed both of her wrists to keep her from running to Connor. She was struggling against Adrian with all her might, but he was too strong. She kicked him over and over, but she couldn't break free.  
  
Connor was on all fours on the pavement now. The black shapeshifter drove a hard kick right into his sternum. Piper heard bones splitting. Connor was spitting mouthfuls of blood onto the cement. He raised his eyes and met Piper's frantic gaze. That look said everything. They held each other's stare until one of the werewolves kicked Connor hard in his right temple. Piper's soulmate fell face first into a pool of his own blood.  
  
Piper sank to her knees, as if following her soulmate's descent into death. Adrian released her wrists, but Piper didn't go to him. She covered her face with her hands instead. She couldn't feel the pain in her wrist anymore. She was numb. Numb to everything. Her broken joint continued to cover her face, as she slid her left hand down her leg.and into her boot. Her hand clutched the stake and slowly pulled it from it's make-shift sheath. In one fluent motion Piper whirled up and around, facing Adrian. Without a second of hesitation, she drove the wooden spike into his undead heart. Shock rendered Adrian's handsome face as his hands flew up to his chest. He closed his hands around the wooden shaft protruding from his ribs and fell to the ground. His eyes glazed over and his chest stopped rising. His skin began to rapidly decay and mummify his appearance.  
  
Piper turned away in disgust. She had to go to Connor. She ran over to her now motionless soulmate. The three guards backed away from her in surprise and fear. She had just killed their employer.  
  
"Connor?" Piper whispered on a sob. There was no response. Piper turned him over. His face was covered in blood and his eyes were closed. "Connor, no. No, no, no." Piper kept repeating herself like a broken record. She cradled him in her arms and pressed his face to her chest.  
  
There was a sudden wrenching in Piper's chest, as if her soul were being ripped apart. She cried out in pain and buried her face in his shoulder. When the pain subsided a moment later, Piper slowly raised her head. There was nothing. That space where she could feel his feelings, listen to his thoughts was gone. As if it was never there, as if he was never there. Piper had a void in her soul.  
  
She knew what she had to do. She softly kissed Connor's forehead and laid him back onto the pavement. She had to get out of here before more guards came and made her stay.  
  
*I wish I could take you with me* she thought to the cold body on the ground. *You don't deserve to lie here like this*  
  
But she had very little time, and no where to put the body if she did take it with her. She couldn't give him a proper funeral or notify his family. No, the Council would take care of it. Besides, Connor was gone. That lifeless body in the driveway was just a corpse now.  
  
Piper ran upstairs to the bedchamber that she and Adrian shared. Grabbing a duffle bag from the top shelf in the closet, she began stuffing random clothing into it. Breathing deeply to stay calm, Piper ran over to her vanity. She pulled out the back, left leg and a roll of cash fell out of the hollow. Emergency money. Piper threw that into the duffle, too. She took one quick look around the bedroom. Finally, she was leaving this place for good. She slammed the bedroom door behind her and ran down the staircase. The guards were gathered around Adrian's body talking to themselves about what to do when she flew past them and into the garage. They were still staring when she peeled out of the drive in her Jaguar and never looked back. 


	11. Chapter 11

*trumpets play happily in background* This is it! The part you have all been waiting (so patiently) for! Again, mucho sorry for the delay. College better not get in the way of my next story. Anyway, HUGE thanks to everybody who stuck with me through this one. Did you like it? Hate it? Like the idea but hated the way I wrote it? Contact me! I love suggestions and praise! Now, for the finale! *curtain slowly rises*  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Pale moonlight turned Connor's dark maroon carpet to a deep red. Piper slowly looked around at the flat she had fled from just over an hour before. His business ethics paper was still on the computer screen. Dirty dishes filled the sink. The sketchbook.  
  
Piper dropped her duffel bag with a thud. Her hand slowly reached behind to close the front door. She hadn't needed a key to get in. The doorknob had come off easily under her unnatural strength.  
  
Now she walked across the small living room to the worn sofa and sank to her knees before the cushions. Her lips trembled as she ran cold fingers over the pencil strokes.  
  
It hurt. Oh, God, it *hurt*.  
  
Piper grimaced at her own pathetic prayer for mercy. God didn't look twice at soulless murderers like her. She was on her own -- she always had been. Apparently it was supposed to be that way. Connor's death was proof enough of that.  
  
Piper drew in a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears -- and the pain. It was more than a broken heart. Her soul had been torn in half. She was bruised and bleeding inside and no tourniquet in the world could stop it.  
  
Piper stretched her legs out in front of her and sank to the floor, hair fanning out around her like liquid gold. Piercing green eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. Images were filling her head like a song she had almost forgotten, but suddenly remembered the chorus. Connor frowning over a difficult chess game. Connor blushing when he admitted that he was broke. Connor laughing at dinner. Connor whispering 'I love you'. Connor dancing in his boxers. Connor caressing her skin. Connor crying. Connor singing. Connor running. Connor sleeping. Connor dying.  
  
* * * *  
  
"I'm not sure how long I stayed that way - collapsed on the carpet. Time seemed to stop as a lay there. There was no outside world, only myself and the pain. It must have been three or four days later that there was a voice at the apartment door." Piper casually reached a pale hand up to wipe away the tears that streaked her cheeks.  
  
"Was it Adrian's guards? Did they come to take you back with them?" Ash inquired quietly. He had become extremely uncomfortable at Piper's recollections. How would he feel if Mary Lynnette died on him? Ash shuddered at the thought. *I'd be in no better shape than Piper. No,* he corrected his thoughts *I'd be worse*.  
  
"That's what I thought at first. Then I realized that they had no reason to chase me down. I can't imagine the chaos going on in Adrian's house after his death. No, I was insignificant compared to the problems they had on their hands. It was Connor's landlord." Piper grimaced at the memory of a middle-aged, slightly pudgy man. His balding head had gleamed under the sunlight through the window.  
  
"Apparently Connor was a few weeks behind his rent payment. I heard a knock and slowly turned toward the door. It wasn't until I saw the man's face that the hunger hit. I hadn't fed in days. Before I knew what was happening, the man was passed out underneath me. My hands and lips were covered with his blood." Piper's voice cracked. "How could I do that? Had I not changed at all? I was still a blood sucking monster.and I realize now that I always will be. I can't change what I am, but I can stop my existence. I felt so guilty. I knew that I didn't want to live anymore, didn't *deserve* to live when Connor was rotting on Adrian's driveway.  
  
"I knew what I had to do. I picked up Connor's desk chair and snapped off the front left leg. The end splintered, just as I'd hoped. It was a make- shift stake, but I wasn't looking for a gallant death. I held it up in front of my chest, my breathing rapid. I stared at the landlord that was cut open on the floor in front of me, throat ripped open. Was he even alive? Wait.His chest was very slowly rising and falling. Should I call the police? 911? I grabbed Connor's black, cordless phone. After leaving a cryptic message to the police about a man being attacked by an animal in the hallway, I threw down the phone. I was still clutching the stake. What a coward I turned out to be. I have no problem fatally attacking others, yet I can't even shove a chair leg into my heart." Piper grimaced with self disgust.  
  
"I don't think you're a coward." Thierry said quietly from behind the large desk.  
  
"You're the only one." Piper replied.  
  
"No, he's not." Ash squeezed Piper's upper arm. She gave him a faint smile.  
  
"Obviously, you didn't kill yourself. What happened then? How did you find out about Circle Daybreak?" Thierry leaned forward in his chair and put his hands on the desktop.  
  
"I wanted a sense of closure before I killed myself. I know there's no heaven for the undead. Who knows if there's a hell for us? Maybe we simply get snuffed out of the universe and just cease to *be*. It terrified me. I needed something peaceful before my death, and I needed to get out of there before the ambulance came. So I threw the stake into a wastebasket and went to the park where Connor and I first met." Piper frowned from the effort of holding back so much emotion.  
  
"I sat on the bench where I'd watched Miss Emma beat him in chess every day. The breeze was light, the trees rustled as it swept across their green leaves. The chess tables weren't very busy. I remember thinking how Emma would feel when Connor wouldn't show up for their game the next day. She'd never know what happened to him.  
  
"I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn't pay attention when someone sat next to me on the bench." Piper let out a shaky laugh. "It was Emma."  
  
She remembered exactly what the homeless woman had told her. ~"You look so sad, Lady, but don't cry. One has gone, but another will find you. He'll help take that sadness away. You go see Lord Thierry Descouedres. Go, Lady. Go to Las Vegas to see Lord Thierry. He be a good one, one like you. He knows others. They help you, Lady, but don't cry. "~  
  
"I thought she was crazy or drunk. I'd never seen Emma drink, though. I scooted a little away from her on the bench and demanded to know what she was talking about. I'd never even spoken to her before. How did she know me at all? Had Connor described me to her?" Piper shook her head. "She mumbled something called Circle Daybreak and just kept softly repeating your name. I looked deep into those cloudy, brown eyes. They shocked me. Her eyes were *ageless* -- as if she carried the knowledge of the world inside herself and nothing could phase her anymore. I think that's what reached me. There was more to this old, homeless chess player than I thought."  
  
"An Old Soul perhaps." Thierry ventured.  
  
Piper looked up at him questioningly. "Do not think me stupid, but I have been very sheltered from the rest of the Night World. What is an Old Soul?"  
  
Ash quickly explained how certain people's souls just kept coming back. He finished with a nod towards Thierry as he said "Hannah is an Old Soul."  
  
Piper's eyes widened. "Yes. I think... I think I could sense in her what I sensed in Emma. Peace and wisdom. So I grabbed my duffel bag and got on the next flight to Vegas. If you'd asked me where I was going or why, I couldn't have told you. I just knew that I had to find Thierry Descouedres in Las Vegas and something called Circle Daybreak. A guy at the airport gave me sketchy directions here. Fortunately, the cab driver seemed to know where it was. You are a famous man." Piper looked sardonically at Thierry.  
  
He smiled faintly and then stood from his chair. "Piper, I run an underground society of humans and Night people. This alliance is for all species who want to live in peace with each other. We oppose many of the Council's laws and are considered rebels by other elders. What we do is very surreptitious, and it is of the utmost importance that no one knows of my involvement."  
  
Piper felt overwhelmed. An illegal organization that the Council hadn't caught yet?  
  
Theirry locked gazes with her and continued. "Many couples come to us because their love is illegal. Humans and Night people who are soulmates. Just like Ash and Mary Lynnette. Just like Hannah and I." He moved to stand beside Piper's chair and lay a hand on her shoulder "Just like you and Connor."  
  
Piper stood quickly and glanced between Ash and Thierry. This was too much all at once. Did these people really want her? She wasn't a soulmate any more. She was... worthless. "So, what are you saying?" Ash walked over to Piper's side and grinned. With a hand on her other shoulder, he informed her "He's saying: WELCOME TO CIRCLE DAYBREAK!"  
  
Piper burst into tears. *We're home, Connor* she thought *We're finally home*.  
  
**Fìn**  
  
A/N: Done! Comments are extremely welcome! Charlatte18@aol.com Keep your eyes open for an original I've got coming out on fictionpress. Thanks so much to everyone! Especially Katy, who is an awesome beta reader ^^ 


End file.
